Walk the Line
by never-trust-a-red-haired-girl
Summary: Yatsuki is a woman who works on both sides of the law. But when Kira turns out to be one of her closest friends and he is threatening the life of another, she'll have to choose between joining Kira and saving her friend, or joining L and risking everythin
1. Chapter 1

Info. And Chapter 1

Name: Sora Yume

Alias: S

Age:22

Family: none

Others: Owner of a Death Note. Was at Whammy's Orphanage until the age of twelve with L before she ran away for reasons that only she knows. Presumed dead for ten years, when in reality she was living in L.A. and then Japan under the name Yatsuki Okida.

"Tsuki-chan?" A red skinned Shinigami asked. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course, Envy." A brown eyed, brown haired young woman responded.

"You could get hurt doing this." Envy said, concerned.

Yatsuki ("Tsuki-chan") shrugged. "So? What're a few broken bones? As long as I have fun getting them."

Envy sighed at the 22-year-old, who was presently going to attempt to slide down the stairs in a sleeping bag. He knew by know that trying to talk her out of it was pointless by now. "Lighten up, wouldja." Yatsuki told him. "There are worse things I could be doing." She said, putting a helmet over her shoulder length hair. "Give me a push."

Envy reluctantly nudged her enough to send her down the stairs. Her laughter filled the house, followed by a rather loud THUD and even more laughter.

Before she could hop back up the stairs, someone knocked on her door. She hopped over to it and opened it, revealing her neighbor, Light Yagami. She gave him a large grin. "Waddup?" she asked, hopping to the side so he could come in.

He looked her up and down. She was still in the sleeping bag and the helmet she was wearing was slightly askew. He wondered what she was up to this time. "We were wondering if you would like to come over for dinner tonight." He said.

Yatsuki sighed. "What case does your dad need help with now?"

Light sweat dropped. True, that was the usual reason for the family to invite her over in the past, but can't neighbors eat together? Especially when one of those neighbors is a single 22-year-old who always orders takeout and rarely eats a good meal?

"Not when your dad is involved." She said, jokingly, when Light voiced these questions. "So seriously. What's the occasion?"

"Well, apparently my dad talks about you at work. His new boss wants to meet the girl who has helped so much. Maybe offer you a job."

Yatsuki sighed. "I don't need another job. I've already got two."

"You just want out of the responsibility of being a full blown detective." Light accused.

Yatsuki grinned. "You know me too well. But I already have two jobs. I don't need a third."

"Mom and dad say that you have too much time on your hands to even have one job."

"Work from home."

"Come on, Tsuki-chan. If not for dad, come over so mom will stop worrying about your eating habits."

"All right. Give me fifteen minutes."

Light nodded before leaving. "Tsuki-chan?" Envy asked from where he was standing on the stairs. He had heard everything and didn't like the idea of her going to Kira's house. It's bad enough that she lives next door… in his mind, anyway. When she cocked her head to the side, a habit she had developed that showed she was listening, he continued. "I don't think you should."

"Relax. You worry too much."

"And you worry too less. Someone has to make up for that."

She laughed. "True. But I haven't done anything to make him mad. I'm not a criminal."

She managed to get out of the sleeping bag (after falling face first to the floor) and dressed in camo pants and used a man's under shirt as a tank top. When she got to the door, Saiyu, Light's little sister, answered it. "Tsuki-chan!" She exclaimed with a grin. "What's with the red mark on your forehead?"

"The sleeping bag has it out for me." She responded.

Saiyu, knowing better than to question further for fear of finding out something relatively strange and possibly disturbing, stepped aside and let her in the house. Yatsuki took a large whiff of the smell coming from the kitchen. "I don't know what your mom is making, but it smells good." She said.

Saiyu smiled. "It's that English dish you like so much. It's called Sheperd's pie, right?"

Yatsuki's eyes glittered in childlike excitement. "Does she need a taste tester?" she asked.

Saiyu laughed as she lead her into the kitchen. "Hey! Tsuki's here!" she said.

"Ah, the life of the party." Mrs. Yagami joked.

"Hello, Mrs. Yagami. Thank you for having me over. It smells great." Yatsuki said. "And I do like to think of myself as the life of any party I go to."

She chuckled. "Of course you are. Have a seat. I sent Light to the store and Soichiro isn't home yet."

"I heard that his boss wants to meet me. Will he be here to?"

"I'm not sure. He's a very busy man."

"I can imagine."

"Tsuki-chan! Come watch Hideki Ryuuga's latest movie with me!" Saiyu called from the family room.

"I'll be there in a minute!" Yatsuki called.

"Saiyu sure looks up to you." Mrs. Yagami said as Yatsuki stood up from the kitchen table.

"Can't imagine why." Yatsuki said, walking away. "I'm nothing special."

"That's a matter of opinion."

Yatsuki turned and gave Mrs. Yagami a sad smile. "I guess."

It was a few minutes later that Light got home, followed shortly by his father and another man with messy black hair and onyx eyes. Yatsuki did a double take. 'B?' she wondered. 'No. Impossible. He's in jail.'

The two of them made eye contact and his eyes grew wider than they already were. 'S?' he wondered to himself before going back to his usual persona.

"Yatsuki, this is my boss, Ryuuzaki. Ryuuzaki, this is Yatsuki Okida." Mr. Yagami introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Yatsuki said with a smile and a hand shake.

"The pleasure's all mine." Ryuuzaki replied.

"Do you mind if I call you Ryu-kun? Ryuuzaki's too long." She asked with a smile.

"If you would like."

Mr. Yagami smiled and whispered to Ryuuzaki, "If she gives you a nickname, it means she likes you."

Ryu nodded and watched the young woman as she offered to help in the kitchen. When she turned to address Mr. Yagami, the two of them made eye contact again. But something was slightly different. There was a thin white ring around her pupils. She glanced above Ryuuzaki's head and then the ring vanished. She gave him a warm smile and continued what she was saying to Mr. Yagami.

"I'm stuffed." Yatsuki said with a large grin. "That was the best I've eaten in a while."

"Remember that our door and kitchen is always open." Mrs. Yagami told her.

"Yeah. You should come over more often. Like you used to." Saiyu added.

"I'll try."

"Well, I must be going." Ryuuzaki said, standing from his unusual sitting position. Everyone thought this was odd except for Yatsuki. She acted as if it were a normal thing to do.

"I should be going to." Yatsuki said.

"Do you have to?" Saiyu asked

"It's late, Saiyu. I have to get some work done before I go to bed."

"What do you do?" Ryuuzaki asked.

"I build computers and software."

The Yagami's looked at her, mildly surprised. "You never told us that." Light said.

She shrugged. "Never asked. Anyway, thank you for the meal. See you guys tomorrow."

"Miss. Okida?" Ryuuzaki asked as the two of them walked outside.

"Call me Tsuki."

"All right. Where are you from?"

"L.A. California."

"I thought so. You have an American accent. But your name is Japanese."

"My mom had this weird obsession with Japanese culture. Never got around to asking why."

This wasn't completely false. She honestly can't remember her mom. She died giving birth and no one knew who the father was. She was adopted by an old Japanese couple who only lived to see her fifth birthday until they passed away. She was then put in an orphanage until she was found by Mr. Whammy and became the notorious prankster known as S. Of course, she didn't tell Ryuuzaki any of this. He'd probably find out eventually, anyway… then of course he'd be pissed.

"Tsuki-chan?" Ryuuzaki asked, breaking her out of her thoughts. He was standing in front of a door to a limo that was being held open by an old man. When he got her attention, he nodded. "It was nice meeting you."

"Likewise." She responded with a smile. The old man looked at her with what looked like recognition that quickly turned into confusion. She smiled at them and turned to walk to her house.

Once the old man got into the drivers seat, he looked at Ryuuzaki in the rear view mirror. "She bears a striking resemblance to S, doesn't she, L?"

L nodded. "Yes she does, Watari. And her habits are even the same."

"What will you do?" Watari asked, driving away.

"We'll do the same thing as with the Yagami and the Aizawa households."

"I'll arrange it right away."

L sat there, wondering if this woman could be the same person he had been searching ten years for. 'Yatsuki Okida…'

Yatsuki let out a sneeze from where she sat on the work stool in her garage. "A cute boy must be thinking about me." She said with a goofy smile.

"Isn't sneezing when someone is talking about you?" Envy asked her from where he was sitting behind her on the floor.

"Either way you look at it, it involves a cute boy."

He let out a sigh and watched as she went back to building her latest hi-tech laptop. The damn thing wouldn't be able to break if you dropped it from a rooftop and all the programs she will download are ones that she designed herself. Her software is considered the best and is sought out by the FBI and other major investigation forces. The security programs are top notch to the point where they are practically impossible to get around and everything that you download and save will be automatically coded. She doesn't mess around when it comes to her job.

Envy's eyes wondered around the garage that she made her workshop. She had sealed the door shut so no one could get in from outside and the only other way in has a retina scanner. The walls of the garage were sound proofed and the shelves were covered in mechanical parts and tools. There were also a bunch of parts for guns…

"Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" She asked Envy, not taking her eyes off her work but tilting her head slightly to the side to show he had her attention.

"Not really. Why?"

"I think that Mr. Yagami's new boss is L."

"That world famous detective?"

"The one and only."

"I thought he always stayed in whatever room he's operating from."

"That's the common misconception. He actually believes in the hands on approach and is extremely active during his cases. He most likely started that rumor himself to make it easier for him to go out in public without being found out."

"There's more, isn't there." Envy asked. Yatsuki turned around and looked at him questioningly. "You look troubled."

"I think he might have recognized me."

"Maybe he won't remember."

She chuckled bitterly. "It's L. He remembers everything. He's probably already planning something to see if his assumption about me is correct. Probably going to bug my house or something."

"You want me to stay here whenever you're out?" he offered.

"That would be helpful. And you could go do whatever it is you do when I'm home."

Envy nodded. Now that that was settled, Yatsuki turned around and went back to work. "Do you wanna move away?" Envy asked suddenly.

She looked over her a shoulder and gave him an annoyed look for interrupting her work before turning back to it. "I'll admit, it crossed my mind a couple times during dinner."

"What's stopping you?"

She was silent, trying to figure out what it was that was keeping her there, before letting out an aggravated sigh. "I don't know. I just like it here…" She chuckled bitterly again. "It figures. I find someplace I actually like and L shows up. I guessed I stayed a year too long."

"Why didn't we move when L figured out Kira was based in the Kanto region of Japan? Surely you knew he would come here."

"Of course I did… and don't call me Shirly."

"Then why didn't we leave?"

"… I… I don't know. Many factors. Curiosity, attachment, wonder… and a challenge. I love a good challenge."

"That'll get you killed one day."

"Don't I know it."

Silence settled between them.


	2. Th Mystery that Is Tsuki

Chapter 2

Yatsuki knocked on the door to the Yagami house and was greeted by Mrs. Yagami's smiling face. "Tsuki- chan! Please, come in. Light should be helping Saiyu with her homework now."

"Ok. Thank you."

Yatsuki walked up the stairs to Light's room and knocked on the door. When it opened, she was tackled by an excited Saiyu. "You're here!" she exclaimed.

"No. I'm a figment of your imagination." She said sarcastically with a slight chuckle. "You ready for some girl time?"

"You know it."

Yatsuki chuckled and peeked around Saiyu. "Hey Light. I hear you've taken on the impossible task of helping Saiyu with her homework."

"Hey!"

Light laughed a little. "I wouldn't say impossible…"

She grinned and steered Saiyu away. "So, where do you want to go this time?" She asked the younger girl.

"Let's go to the mall!"

Yatsuki grimaced. She didn't like the mall. Too many people. "Well…"

"Please! We don't even have to buy anything!"

Yatsuki sighed and walked into the living room where Mrs. Yagami was watching a soap opera. "May we borrow the car? Mr. Yagami will kill me if I took Saiyu out on my motorcycle."

"Sure. On one condition."

"All right. Hit me."

Mrs. Yagami gave her a strange look that made Yatsuki laugh before shaking her head. "Could you pick up some groceries? The list is on the fridge and I'll give you the money."

"Sure thing." Yatsuki said, picking up the keys and grabbing the list. "Saiyu! Hurry up! Do you want to go to the mall or what!?" she called to the other girl who had vanished to her room.

* * *

Mr. Yagami watched the interaction between Yatsuki and his family fondly from where the Task Force was stationed. They had set up cameras in both his house and Aizawa's house and were now observing. "Your family seems to like Tsuki-chan a lot." L observed.

"Of course." Matsuda said. "Everyone loves Tsuki-chan."

L was silent as he watched the young woman being treated like she was part of the family. "Yagami-san? Do you know Miss Okida's backround?"

Mr. Yagami thought for a moment before looking puzzled. "Now that you mention it, all I really know about her is that she born in the states and she moved here five years ago. I didn't even know her job until she told you yesterday."

"Does anyone else know anything about her?"

"She's an extremely smart person." Mr. Yagami continued. "She's the only person I know of who can have an intelligent conversation with my son."

"She's a good cook." Matsuda said with a grin.

"She cooked for you?"

"Yupp."

"She baby-sits my kids when my wife is busy." Aizawa said. "Kids seem to love her."

"She loves to pull pranks." Ide said, chuckling. Everyone nodded. "What did she do to you guys?"

"She put saran wrap over my doors." Matsuda said.

"She buttered my toilet." Ide sighed.

"I don't know how she did it, but she tied a life sized robotic deer to my car hood and had it talk to people who were walking by." Aizawa said, chuckling at the memory. Everyone stared at him shocked.

"You win. That's better than anything she's done to me."

"What about you, Chief?" Aizawa asked Mr. Yagami.

"I'm her neighbor." He responded. "She's pulled so many on us that I lost count."

"Tell us the one that sticks out in your mind."

"She put coffee in the shower heads."

There was silence for a few seconds before everyone except L burst out laughing. L was listening to the whole exchange with a thoughtful expression. S was a major prankster as well. "What else did she do?" Matsuda asked.

"She has very interesting methods of waking people up in the morning."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

A couple hours later, Yatsuki walked in the Yagami's house with the bags of groceries as Saiyu followed with other shopping bags from the mall. "Mrs. Yagami! We're back!" Yatsuki called.

"Anyway, as I was saying." Saiyu said. "There's this guy at school who I really like and as far as I know, he likes me back. But he's a total playboy. He flirts with every pretty girl he sees." She set the bags down with a sigh and started to help Yatsuki put away the groceries. "What do you think I should do?"

"Figure out if he likes you back. If he does, go out on a couple double dates with him until you're comfortable and if he cheats on you, dump his ass."

"Yatsuki!"

She winced as Mrs. Yagami walked into the room, a scolding look on her face. "Sorry Mrs. Y."

"What if he doesn't like me back?" Saiyu continued to ask.

"Then move on. He isn't worth your time."

"But what if he says he likes me back, and what you said happens and he cheats on me?"

Yatsuki let out a sigh and turned to Mrs. Yagami, giving her a look that said, "Isn't this your job?"

Mrs. Yagami chuckled. "You're doing fine, dear." she said in a motherly way

She sighed again. "I repeat, if he cheats on you, dump him. And if what you said about him being a flirt is true, then you shouldn't even bother. You're too good for some cheating fu---" She stopped and glanced at Mrs. Yagami's back. "Uh... fudge... and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Saiyu sweatdropped at her change of words, but smiled. "All right. Thanks." she said. "I have to ask Light for more help on my homework." She gave Yatsuki a quick hug and dashed up the stairs.

Yatsuki stood there, not sure what to do next. That was the first time Saiyu had asked her for advise and the first time she got a hug that reminded her of a... sister. "Mrs. Y? What does it feel like to have a family?" she asked.

Mrs. Yagami looked up at her from where she sat at the kitchen table drinking tea, a questioning expression on her face. "Why do you ask? Don't you have a family back in the states"

Yatsuki looked at her giving her a small, sad smile while shaking her head. "The closest thing to a family I have is serving life on charges of first degree murder. Kira will get to him soon. I know it. I wonder if he even knows I'm alive anymore."

"Was he a friend or lover?"

Yatsuki smiled at some far off memory, not registering the last part of the question. "He was my best friend."

"Then go visit him."

"He's in some high security prison in L.A. It's practically AlCatras! Besides, if it's found out that I'm buddy-buddy with someone most consider a psycopathic serial killer, I'll lose my first job and possibly all my clients for my second job."

"You work two jobs? But you seem to have so much time on your hands."

"That's beside the point at the moment."

"Since when do you think about your actions? Go there and then figure out what to do. It's always worked for you in the past."

Yatsuki chewed on her lower lip, a habit that shows when she's thinking. "Yeah, you're right. I guess I can squeeze a trip into my busy schedual."

Mrs. Yagami chuckled. "I can give you a ride to the airport whenever you're ready."

"Like... tomorrow?"

"Sure."

Yatsuki smiled and hugged the woman. "Thanks, Mrs. Y."

"Anytime, dear."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Okay, so far all we know about her is that she is a master of all things electronic, she likes to play pranks, and she was the best friend of a serial killer in L.A." Watari told L after all the Task Force members went home for the night. L didn't want them to know about his investigation of Yatsuki Okida due to the fact that it may upset them and cause them to leave.

"What about backround information?" L asked. "Anything about her on file?"

"Unfortunately, no. It's as if she appeared out of no where when she moved here. And the U.S. government refuses to give us what little information they have without a good reason."

L chewed on his thumb nail. Trying to find who this girl is was becoming a nusciance. He would move on if it wern't for a few factors:

1) He could swear he's seen her before and it's bugging the holy living hell out of him.

2) She's become a challenge, and L loves a challenge

3)If she's so important that the U.S. government was protecting her, then she must know something important, and there was a 10% chance that it had to do with Kira.

This just keeps getting better and better.


	3. Going Home and Old Friends

Chapter 3

Yatsuki had landed in L.A. and was now looking around with a disappointed look. It looked to her like nothing had changed. There were still prostitutes on the corners, still gambling casinos in every hotel, and still jam-packed with people. She hates crowds.

She pulled out her cell phone and dialed. "Hello?"

"Mrs. Y? It's Yatsuki. Just wanted to tell you that I've landed safely."

"That's wonderful, dear. What's it like?"

"It's not any different from when I left."

"You sound disappointed."

"... Maybe a little."

"Well, try to have fun."

"I will."

She hung up and looked around her with a disgusted look. God, did she hate people. She walked out of the airport and hailed a cab.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Mrs. Yagami hung up the phone and turned to her family with a smile. "That was Tsuki-chan. She just wanted to let us know that she landed safely."

"She never told us why she left in the first place." Saiyu complained.

Mrs. Yagami looked at her daughter with pity. Yatsuki had specifically asked her not to tell anybody where she was going. "I forgot to ask her. I was just relieved that she landed safely." she lied.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The cab left her in front of the vehicle transport building in the airport and she got out and paid the guy before going in and claiming her blue motorcycle. She paid the guy at the counter and left. She strapped her only bag, a shoulder bag, into the box on the back and sped off in the direction of the high security prison.

It took a couple hours, but she got there with sunlight to spare and walked in the door, flashing an FBI badge. "I'm here to see Beyond Birthday."

"Certainly, Miss Okida." The man behind the desk said, leading her to the back.

"Let me make myself clear." She said to the man as he led her past cells where men were wolf-whistling at her and asking for stuff. She gave them a disgusted look as she passed. "I require no guards and no one watching through one way glass."

"But ma'am, its protocol--"

"I know its protocol. But I have permission from the president himself to do this and to do it my way."

"Y-yes ma'am."

The man led her to a windowless room where there wasn't even a two way mirror or cameras and left her there to wait. As she waited, she leaned against a wall and thought. 'Maybe I should just stay here in the states. It's on the other side of the world from L and I'll be closer to B...'

"S-chan must be thinking really hard."

Her head shot up and there was B, looking at her with red eyes and his thumbnail between his teeth. Immediately, a smile lit up her face. "You're alive!" she exclaimed, throwing herself at him in a hug.

He hugged her back. "That's my line." he said. "Why are you here? If the FBI figures out you're here, you could get in trouble."

"I'm aware." she replied. "It's just, with all the Kira crap, I was worried about you."

"Worried about a killer? You need to worry about yourself… Why did you run away all those years ago?"

Yatsuki sighed and sat against a wall, signaling for B to sit next to her. "I didn't like what Old Man Whammy was trying to do, trying to find a replacement for L. It seemed to me like he thought of him and every other kid as machines that could be replaced and he was trying to find the one for L. I blew up in his face and stormed out, saying that you can't replace a person like a machine. Never looked back." She turned to see B looking at her with a thoughtful look on his face. "What about you? I have a feeling that your challenge to L wasn't the only reason you left."

"It wasn't. Everyone was convinced that you were dead, but I knew otherwise. I managed to track you to L.A. and went there in hopes of finding you. While I was there, I thought of my challenge for L and figured that maybe it would attract your attention as well."

She hit him over the head. "You dumbass! That has to be the stupidest thing I have ever heard you come up with! You nearly killed yourself! Did you ever stop and think about what _I _would do if you died? Well did you? I swear, sometimes I wonder--"

She got cut off when B grabbed her arm and pulled her into a kiss. It felt weird to her because of the full-body burn scar but she let him kiss her. After he pulled away, he settled his forehead on her shoulder. "I missed you, Sora." he whispered.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and ran her fingers through his hair. "I missed you to, Beyond." She whispered back.

"...You don't think of me that way, do you?"

"... No. I love you in a different way. But it's still love."

She felt him nod. "You don't have a death date." he mumbled

"Um, yeah. About that. Do you believe in Shinigami?"

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Why would Tsuki-chan go to L.A.?" Matsuda asked.

"I don't know. She only told us she was leaving for a few days." Mr. Yagami replied. "She seemed in a rush, to."

"Well, you know her. It's probably a personal thing." Aizawa said, joining the conversation.

"Did she say anything else, Yagami-san?" L asked, catching everyone off guard. Usually L didn't even let this kind of conversation go on while they were working, but he seems to have taken an interest to Yatsuki. Fortunately for L, Mr. Yagami was the only one to notice this.

"She said that if all goes well, she might have a room-mate come back with her, but not to count on it."

L didn't say anything; he only sat there chewing on his thumbnail.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Yatsuki sneezed. "Someone talking about you?" B asked.

"Yupp." She replied with a grin.

"So you're saying that this notebook can kill people and there is a Shinigami attached to each one?" he asked.

"That's correct. And there are only allowed to be six notebooks in the human realm at one time."

"And you think Kira is killing using one of these notebooks."

"I know he is. Hell, I know who Kira is personally thanks to the Shinigami eyes. If a person doesn't have a death date, then they own a Death Note. Problem is, he was a very close friend of mine before all this _and_ I don't have proof that the justice system will accept." She turned to him with a smile. "But on to a happier subject. I'm gunna try to get you out of jail."

"You know that's impossible at this point."

"Since when has that stopped me?"

B sighed and pat her head. "And how do you plan on making this work?" he asked.

Her smile grew. "The President owes me a huge favor. I'm sure releasing one little convict into my custody would be a more than fair trade. And he knows I can hold my own if you 'get out of hand'"

"But that won't protect me from Kira."

"I know. But it's better than dying in jail. Wouldn't you rather die in the arms of someone you love than dying alone?"

B looked at her. "Yes I would. But there's no way that the President will let me go, even if I'm with you."

"That, my dear friend, is why they invented blackmail. But that is my second to last resort."

"What's your last?"

"You don't wanna know."

B drowned the urge to ask, knowing that she was most likely right. "Just don't do something that would get you in here."

"Aw, man. That's no fun."

There was a knock at the door and Yatsuki put back on the cop act. "What do you want?" she asked the man who peeked his head in.

"I'm sorry, miss, but we're closing down the prison for the night." the man said.

"Of course. I apologize if my visit was an inconvenience." She said standing. She turned to B, who watched her walk toward the door. "Until next time, Beyond."

"Of course, Miss Okida." B replied, playing the part of a convict who had just been interrogated. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help."

"I'm sure we'll find another use for you." She said, just before the door closed and she followed the young man back to the front of the prison.

"Yatsuki's coming back!!" Saiyu exclaimed, barging into Light's room. "She's on the next flight over here! And she's bringing a friend!"

"Really?" Light said from his computer, genuinely interested this time

"Yeah! It's that friend she told mom about. She somehow got him released into her custody! I wonder what he'll be like. From what she said over the phone, he's really weird."

"Well, of course he is. He's a serial killer! What the hell is she thinking!?"

"She's trying to help her best friend. Wouldn't you do the same?"

Light was silent. Would he help Yatsuki if she went bonkers? He more than likely would have before the Death Note, but know that he had the image of Kira to protect, he didn't think he would. Kira shouldn't play favorites.

They heard the sound of Yatsuki's motorcycle pull into her driveway and rushed outside. When they got out, they saw Yatsuki and a man who looked oddly like Ryuuzaki. She had him in a headlock and was giving him a noogie as he struggled to escape. The two spectators watched on with amusement that their neighbor was beating up a hardened killer. "Tsuki-chan! Cut it out! That actually hurts!" the man yelled.

"That's kinda the point, idiot! And you're supposed to be smart!"

"I am smart!"

"Then don't point out the obvious!!"

Light cleared his throat to show that he and Saiyu were present and Yatsuki grinned at him as B stopped struggling. "Waddup?" she asked as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Who's your friend?" Saiyu asked sweetly.

"Oh, this idiot? This is Beyond Birthday. Say 'hi,' B"

"Hello." B said from Yatsuki's death-grip.

"You mean from the L.A. BB Murder Case?" Light asked, surprised and slightly appalled.

"Do you know of another person named Beyond Birthday? If you do, I would love to meet the guy." Yatsuki replied.

"What happened to your face?" Saiyu asked B, who was still in a headlock, with curiosity.

Before he could respond, Yatsuki started to give him a noogie again. "The jerk had to go and set himself on fire!!! If you ever do something stupid like that again, I'll bring you back to life and pound the crap outta ya!"

B had finally had enough and wrapped an arm around her waist as best he could and stood up straight. The result was a couple POPS! from his back and Yatsuki slung over his shoulder. "Let me down!!"

"Is Tsuki-chan calmed down?"

Yatsuki took a calming breath. "Yes, Tsuki-chan is calm." she said. He let her down and then they both turned to the two Yagamis in Yatsuki's yard. "So... hi."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The Task Force watched in shock as Yatsuki walked into the Yagami household with Light, Saiyu, and none other than Beyond Birthday. "_That _is the criminal she was talking about? How the hell did she get him out of jail!?" Aizawa asked no one in particular.

"She probably has some very good connections." L mumbled from where he sat.

"But how... why... I can't picture her even looking in that guy's direction!" Matsuda said as they watched her interact with the three people in the house like it was a normal thing to do.

They watched as Beyond made some smartass comment about her hobbies and she bonked him over the head while giving him a come-back that at any other given moment would have been funny, but the men were too shocked to really pay attention to it. She was friends with Beyond Birthday. _The_ Beyond Birthday. The man who killed three people in such hideous ways that it made the toughest cops squirm. The man who sent complicated puzzles meant for L himself to rub it in his face. They couldn't believe that lovable, trust worthy Yatsuki would even know him, let alone be friends with one of the most notorious killers mankind has known. They were even too out of it to notice how much like L the man looked despite the full body scar that marred his skin.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Yatsuki waved to the two Yagamis as she and B walked to her house. They put the motorcycle back into the shed where she kept it, but on the way back around, they were confronted by Envy. "Is this the one you were talking about?" He and B asked her at the same time.

She laughed and walked toward the house before Envy stopped her. "Some men came while you were gone and planted cameras and bugs in every room except the garage."

"I see. Thank you, Envy." She grabbed B's hand and dragged him toward the front of the house. "You're not allowed to talk to Envy while in the house. Act like he isn't there."

"It's L, isn't it?" B said, turning the question into a statement. Yatsuki nodded, keeping her sarcastic comments about it being Barney to herself.

"According to Ryuk, L has been showing interest in you." Envy said.

"Ryuk?"

"Light's Shinigami." Yatsuki said, bluntly, as she pulled out her house keys.

"So I was right." B mumbled.

Yatsuki gave him a questioning look, her key in the lock, waiting to be turned. "What do you mean?" she asked. She knew B too well to think he was talking about death dates.

"I've been in jail for the past five years. And being in those shoes myself, I can safely say that I know a murderer when I see one."

She nodded. "But that's still not enough to convince a judge, let alone an entire jury."

"I know. I'm saying that I believe you."

She opened the door and walked in, a large smile on her face. "FINALLY!!!" She exclaimed. "Home sweet home! Your room is upstairs next to mine."

"And that would be where?"

"You're supposed to be smart. Figure it out."

He gave her an annoyed look before walking off into the kitchen. "Strawberry jam's on the top shelf behind the milk." Yatsuki called to him as she went upstairs.

"Thank you." B called back, opening the fridge. There, as she said, was a full, unopened jar of jam. "Did you really have that much confidence in your... connections?" B asked as she walked into the kitchen with a box.

"Since when have they failed me?" she asked, tossing him the box. He caught it in one hand and opened it to find a pair of black pants and a white long-sleeved shirt. Before he could thank her, she had disappeared again, 'I could swear she was Houdini.' he thought.

He wondered up the stairs with the box of clothes and the jar of jam, looking for his new room. He could immediately tell when he found hers.

Yatsuki's room was a dark red color, the color of Envy's skin. There was a desk with a laptop on it against one wall and on the opposite wall was a bookshelf stuffed with books. The windows were open, giving it a cheery feel. Her bed was pretty average with red sheets and comforter and it rested under one of the open windows. She had a dresser next to the bed and a closet facing the side of the dresser. He looked up to see that the ceiling of her room was painted dark blue and had glow-in-the-dark stars on it, some of which formed constellations. He smiled slightly and shook his head before turning to the only room next to hers.

When he opened the door, all he could do was stop and stare. The walls were black with white blotches here and there. The bed was average and had white sheets and comforter. There was a desk with a computer and a temporarily empty bookshelf, a dresser with a closet right next to it, and a single window with the black curtains closed. "Do you like it?" Yatsuki asked, walking in behind him.

He looked at her, a small smile on his face. "Yes. It is perfect." He said.

"It better be. It was a bitch to paint."

"How? All you would have to do is paint the wall black and splatter the white paint with the paint brush."

She laughed. "Come now, B. You know I'm more creative than that. I put the white paint in balloons and chucked them at the wall. But the part that sucked was the cleaning up part."

B smirked. "I can only imagine."

They were in silence for a few minutes, just standing in the doorway to B's new room. Yatsuki grinned. "Hey, B. Guess what."

"I'm afraid to ask."

She jumped on his back at an angle that caused him to spin a little before regaining his balance. "WE'RE HOME!!!!" she yelled out in glee.


	4. The Test

Chapter 4

Yatsuki walked into B's room, her hands behind her head in a laid-back manner. When she saw him still in bed she sighed and took a deep breath. "I'VE GOT A LOVELY BUNCH OF COCONUTS! TWEEDLY DEE! THERE THEY ARE A-STANDING--"

She got cut off by a face full of fluffy pillow and B mumbling something along the lines of "Damn dying cats." Before getting up.

"Oh haha. You're so funny." Yatsuki said sarcastically with a smile. "Get your lazy ass up. Breakfast is ready."

"What do you mean, 'lazy?'" he asked, standing. "What time is it?"

"9:44." Yatsuki replied, walking out.

B sighed and got out of bed. "Is she always like this?" he asked Envy, who would stay with B to give Yatsuki her privacy at night. Envy had told them that after a week, L had removed the cameras and bugs, so they could do whatever they wanted now. This had relieved Yatsuki to no end and that night, she dragged B out clubbing.

"You tell me. You're the one who's known her since she was eight." Envy replied.

"But there's a good ten year gap in which I know nothing of." B reminded him, changing shirts. "Her methods of waking people up seem to have died down. But then again, it could be because we were in the same room."

"I don't sleep." Envy said.

"What do you do at night?" B asked, walking out of his room with Envy following.

"I explore. There's always something going on, especially at night. Just as Tsuki-chan always says. 'Everything interesting happens after I'm asleep.'"

B nodded, the amusement in his eyes the only show of emotion on his face.

They got down to the kitchen to see the table filled with pancakes, sausage, eggs and bacon. B looked at her questioningly. "American food?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I was craving pancakes."

Before they could eat, the door bell rang. Yatsuki got up and answered it to see Mr. Yagami. She grinned. "Hiya, Mr. Y. Ain't it a little early to start helping Saiyu sell girl scout cookies?"

Mr. Yagami smiled. "Yes, but that's not what I'm here for."

"Oh?"

"I'm here on business for the Kira investigation."

Yatsuki looked around before motioning for him to come in. She shut the door quickly and turned to him, smiling. "You want some coffee? I just finished making breakfast, you can help yourself."

"You're actually cooking?"

She shrugged. "I've got someone to cook for." She said with a smile.

"Tsuki-chan, where are the sugar cubes?" B asked, walking into the living room.

"Don't tell me you've already finished off what I set out."

"All right. I won't."

"Smart ass." She mumbled before turning to Mr Yagami, who was watching B intently. "Excuse me for a minute." She said, walking into the kitchen and smacking B over the head as she passed him.

"What did I do?" he asked.

"You ate all the damn sugar cubes, that's what." She said with an annoyed on her face. B grumbled under his breath. "Love ya to." Yatsuki said, handing him another bowl of sugar cubes. He gave her a look and proceeded to eat.

Yatsuki returned to Mr. Yagami. "Now, about that coffee." She said with a smile.

"Oh. Yes please." He responded, not taking his eyes from the kitchen where B was eating.

Yatsuki chuckled. "He's not gunna hurt you." She said. "He's like a teddy bear… once you get past the serial killer part."

"Like that's going to calm him down at all." Envy muttered from the kitchen.

Yatsuki rolled her eyes and chuckled, pouring coffee into a mug. "How do you like it?" she called to Mr. Yagami.

"Black." Was his simple reply.

Yatsuki walked in and gave him his coffee while making a face. "I don't know how you can drink it black. It's just so bitter."

"I agree." B mumbled after hearing her comment. Yatsuki laughed before turning to Mr. Yagami.

"Business?" she asked, a small smirk on her face.

"Right. L wants to get your opinion on something pertaining to twelve FBI agents that were killed two weeks ago."

Yatsuki stiffened. "Killed?" she whispered.

"Yes. And all at the same time. We have some security videos of where each of the agents were before they died. One of them, Raye Penbar, showed some unusual behavior."

Yatsuki fisted her hands to the point that the knuckles were white and her nails almost punctured her skin. In mere moments, B was by her side trying to calm her down. "Yatsuki, what's wrong?" he asked calmly as Mr. Yagami looked on, slightly startled from B's sudden appearance and Yatsuki's behavior.

"Penbar… He's dead…" she mumbled.

B started to rub her back soothingly. "It's all right." He mumbled.

"Oh my God… What about Naomi?" she mumbled.

"If you're talking about Naomi Misora, she's been missing for the past few days." Mr. Yagami said. "How do you know about them?"

B looked at him with a slight glare. "She and Penbar were practically family back in the states." He said, trying to keep his anger in check.

Yatsuki took a few calming breaths, getting her emotions in order. "I'm fine now, B. Thank you."

B nodded, but kept rubbing her back. She let out a sigh. "You said that Raye was showing some strange behavior?" she asked Mr. Yagami.

He nodded, impressed by her ability to regain composure. "Yes. L wants your interpretation of it."

She nodded. "When does he want me?"

"Tomorrow, if possible."

She laughed, surprising both B and Mr. Yagami. "Mr. Y., since when have I ever been busy enough to pass up any invitation?" she asked, a smile on her face.

He nodded and finished his coffee. "I'm sorry." He said, heading out the door.

"It isn't your fault." Yatsuki responded as he shut the door. She took a deep breath and looked at B with a smile. "So, what do ya want to do today?"

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"So she knew the Raye Penbar personally?" Matsuda asked Mr. Yagami.

"According to B. The way she reacted pretty much spoke for itself, though." Mr. Yagami responded.

L just listened with a thoughtful expression on his face. 'She could be an agent.' He thought. 'That could also explain why the U.S. Government refuses to give up any information.'

"Has anyone tried to just ask her?" Matsuda asked. "I mean, it's Tsuki-chan. She'll either tell us the truth or won't answer, but either way, it could confirm some things."

"I shall take care of that when she comes in tomorrow." L said.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The next day came around quickly and Yatsuki wasn't sure she was ready for it. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to." B said, watching Yatsuki as she got ready for the day.

She shrugged, pulling on her jeans that were ripped at the knee. She didn't mind B watching her get dressed. He did that often while they were at Whammy's, plus all the younger kids would barge in at the most random of times with petty problems. Guess Yatsuki was like everyone's big sister or mother.

"I know I don't." She replied, tugging a dark blue shirt that said: "I'm immature, unorganized, lazy and loud. But I'm Fun!"

B looked at the shirt. "You know they won't take you seriously with that shirt on." He said.

"They can kiss my ass. I like my shirt." She said, pouting a little.

B looked slightly amused at her. Sometimes he wondered how she even got in to Whammy's House. True, she had a mass amount of talent in a few fields, but she never showed them if she could help it. She'd prefer to walk down a hallway at three in the morning while setting off the fire alarms.

There was a knock at the door. "We're not home!" She yelled as she walked down the stairs.

"Tsuki-chan, I'm here to pick you up and take you to H.Q." a voice replied.

Yatsuki squealed and threw open the door. "Matsuda!!" she exclaimed, tackling the man in a hug . "How the hell are ya!?"

Matsuda blushed and returned the hug. "I've been fine. What about you?"

"Tsuki-chan?" B interrupted, walking down. The two men sized each other up before B returned his attention to Yatsuki. "Is this the man who will be taking you?"

"Yes. B, this is Matsuda. Matsuda, this is B." she said before latching onto B's arm. "Don't let his looks fool you. He's just one big teddy bear."

Matsuda coughed. Yeah, one big, psychotic teddy bear. He could totally see that. Note the sarcasm. "Anyway. We should get going." He said.

Yatsuki nodded and let go of B. "I don't know how long I'll be gone, but you're a big boy. You know where everything is." She said to B as she walked out the door. "And if you break anything, I'll pound ya."

"Yes, Tsuki-chan." B replied as the door shut.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

As Yatsuki walked into the hotel suite, the first thing she noticed was the obvious. L was loaded. The second thing she noticed was the lack of any members and that Matsuda had left her alone. The third and last thing she noticed was that L was sitting in his strange way on a loveseat eating sweets. He looked up at her and stood. "Hello, Yatsuki-san. I'm L."

She grinned. "Hello, Ryu-panda-sama." She replied, shaking his hand.

L raised his eyebrow at the name and the fact that she didn't seem surprised about who she was. "Before we begin, I have a few questions to ask you."

She shrugged, taking a seat in a leather chair across from where L had been seated. "Fire away."

L sat back on the loveseat. "You were originally born in the US?"

"Yes."

"You were close to Raye Penbar, am I correct?"

"Yes."

"What was your relationship with Raye?"

"He was a very close friend."

"Hm…A co-worker, perhaps?"

Yatsuki raised an eyebrow. "Are you inquiring that I'm an FBI agent?"

"Yes. I suppose I am."

She chuckled. "You're really blunt, aren't you?"

"Only when I want answers."

She smiled. "No, I'm not an agent."

"But you have connections to the FBI."

It was a statement, not a question. "I never said that."

"You never said that you didn't."

She looked at him for a moment before laughing. "I suppose I didn't. So let me re-phrase myself. I am not an agent, nor am I connected with the FBI in any way other than friendship with an agent."

L stared at her for a second. "I have a feeling that you're lying to me, Tsuki-chan."

"Do you, now? Well that is unfortunate."

She was baiting him, trying to turn the tables and get information out of him. He wasn't going to give in. "Your name, is it an alias?" he asked. He watched her reaction. Her smile never faltered, nor did that cool look in her eyes. She gave nothing away. He had to admit, she was good.

"No."

Blunt, one word answer. She's only giving him the bare minimum of the information he wants and it was frustrating. "I see." He replied, keeping his cool. "Why did you move to Japan?"

She shrugged. "Change of scenery."

L held back the annoyed sigh that threatened to slip past his lips. "You mentioned building computers and software. Why?"

"Mostly as a hobby. Sometimes I get requests for a good computer. If the pay is good, I'll give them one."

"What is your connection to the Japanese Police Force?"

"I built computers for them and sometimes I help with cases when needed. Plus, I live next door to the Chief. That helps."

L nodded. "I'm want you to look at something before we go to the videos." He said.

"You're going to test to see if I'm Kira."

"I never said that."

Yatsuki grinned. "You didn't say it wasn't." she replied, using what L had said earlier against him.

L couldn't help a small smile. "Indeed." He said, pulling out three pictures. "These were taken at the scene of three Kira murders. I want you to look at them carefully and tell me what you think."

She looked at the three pictures carefully, looking for anything out of the norm… other than the fact that they were there. She looked slightly disgusted as she turned back to L not three minutes later. "It's obvious he was testing out the extent of his power by making them do these things. And the message he's sending you is interesting. 'L, did you know that Shinigami like apples.' But if you put them in order of print number, them it's completely jumbled up and not making any sense. But that leads me to believe that these were printed out of order on purpose to test anyone if you feel fit. It's either that or there is another photo you're not showing me."

L stared at her, eyes wider than normal. She figured the whole thing out in less than three minutes! "Miss Okida, what's you I.Q.?" he asked.

"What have I told you about my name?"

"Sorry, Tsuki-chan. It's a habit. Now please answer my question."

She shrugged. "Uh… 180, last I checked. Why, what's yours?"

If his eyes got any bigger, she was afraid they would pop out of his head. "Mine is 170." He mumbled, pouting slightly at the fact that she was technically smarter than him.

She whistled and grinned. "Nice. Now, about those tapes."

"Yes, of course."

She watched as he brought a computer over to the table. "Ya know it's just a number." She said. He looked at her. "The I.Q. It doesn't really mean anything." He nodded and motioned for her to take a seat next to him.

She walked over and sat, watching the screen. "Tell me what you see." L said, pressing the play button. Yatsuki watched as Raye boarded the train. Nothing really unusual there. Then she looked at the other video when he got off. She quickly noted the time and watched as Raye fell and died. "Should I play it again for you?" L asked.

"No." she replied, chewing her lip. "The Yamanote line only runs for an hour, yet he was on for an hour and a half. Was there anything to suggest that he got off and got back on?"

"No."

She sighed. "Well, that theory went out the window." She mumbled. "He also got on with that envelope, but he got off without it. And the way he moves as he's dying, it's as if he's trying to see someone on the train. Kira, maybe?"

L stayed silent, mentally praising this young woman as she thought. "But Penbar… that envelope had to have been something important. He wouldn't leave it without some reason."

"I doubt Kira would show up in the first place. It's too risky for him." L said.

"True, but Kira is showing traits that put him on the daring side, don't you think? He could have figured out the camera angles ahead of time and used that to his advantage, while scaring Penbar into doing what he wanted."

"But how would he manage that? If Penbar feared for his life, he wouldn't have agreed to take the case in the first place." L argued.

"I know. He doesn't give a damn about his own life. That's what made him a good agent. Kira probably threatened someone… NAOMI!!"

Her sudden outburst caught L off guard. "Miss. Misora? What about her?"

"Think about it. The only way to scare a guy like Penbar into giving up what could be vital information would be to threaten something precious to him. The only thing he put before his own life was Misora's. Kira could have threatened her to get whatever was in that envelope and then got rid of her anyway, hence why she's missing."

L nodded. What she was saying was making perfect sense. Almost too perfect. "Tsuki-chan, are you aware that all you have just told me makes me think that either you are more intelligent than you are saying or that you are Kira."

"Yeah yeah. And we all know that the first one ain't true. And I can disprove that second one."

"Oh? How?"

"While it is true that I have full access to criminal case files, like Kira so obviously does, before he started to experiment he killed in the early mornings and in the afternoon. So it's likely that he's a student. Plus, it's so obvious he's a guy. I mean, come on. I don't know of any woman or girl who is that self righteous. Honestly."

L nodded. Once again, she was making perfect sense… but that last comment about the male race in general kind of irked him. She smiled and stood. "If that is all, Ryu-kun, I would like to get home before B blows up my kitchen."

L nodded. "Watari shall escort you home."

She grinned. "A chauffer? I feel special."

Watari, who had walked in at the mention of his name, smiled at the young woman. Before they got out the door, L called after her. "Tsuki-chan, I would like you to join the Task Force—"

"Yeah. Sure." She replied before he could mention pay or benefits. "I just wanna catch the guy."

Watari chuckled at her. She spoke by combining American slang and the Japanese language. The result was an amusing speech pattern and accent. Plus, she reminded him so much of S. "It's a pleasure to have you aboard, Miss Okida." Watari said as they left a semi-annoyed L in the hotel room.

She laughed. "Dude, Miss Okida was my mom. Call me Tsuki-chan."

He nodded, smiling. She was going to make things interesting, he could tell.


	5. The Scheme

Chapter 5

"You took the job?" B asked Yatsuki, looking only somewhat surprised.

"Hell yeah. I wanna put Kira behind bars. Then I can finally stop worrying about your ass." She responded, walking past him into the kitchen and grabbing some random toast.

"You like my ass." B countered with a completely straight face.

She laughed. "You know it."

"What happened, anyway?" Envy asked.

She shrugged. "Oh you know. Played Twenty Questions and then I got to watch Penbar get killed. Fun." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

She walked into the living room and sat on the couch, eating her toast. When she was finished, B walked up behind her and started to message her neck and shoulders. Her neck lolled back against the couch, the top of her head resting on B's stomach. "Dude, you have magic hands." She mumbled.

B forced the thoughts of other things he could do with his hands to the back of his mind. Yatsuki chuckled as if she was just reading his mind. "I wonder why L decided to dress like you this time." She wondered out loud.

"You know L." B responded. "He dresses up like the people he's defeated. It's like a hunter displaying the heads of animals above his mantle. It's his trophy."

"I find it semi-disturbing. Like he's going through an identity crisis every day. It must suck."

B smiled slightly. That was exactly his thought on the matter. "What I wanna figure out is why you and not one of the other detectives he's beaten. That would make more sense."

"Nobody really knows me. I'm a mystery to everyone other than you and L. Besides, it's pointless to try and understand him. You know that."

Yatsuki rolled her eyes. "I know. But I'm supposed to know you two better than you know yourselves. I'm awesome that way, dammit!"

B chuckled as she crossed her arms and pouted like a sulking child. "You know the way he thinks and what he's like when he's himself, but he's had to change the way he thinks for this case. Kira's no idiot."

Yatsuki sighed as B hit a spot on her shoulder with his thumb and relaxed. "I know. Kira's my neighbor, remember? I used to tutor him in History."

"You hate History."

"With a burning passion."

There was a knock at the door and Yatsuki got up to answer it. At the door was Light. She grinned. "Well, howdy neighbor. What can I do ya for?"

"I was hoping you could help me study for the entrance exam." He said.

"I thought that wasn't for another couple of weeks."

"It's in two days, Tsuki-chan."

"Hey, I got the number two correct. Come on in and make yourself comfortable."

Two hours of the most boring study session later and they were finally done, according to Light. The whole time, Yatsuki noticed how Light kept glancing from her to B, who was within sight, then back to the paper. "What're you thinking?" she asked him while preparing lunch. B had gone up to his room, probably waiting for Light to go away.

"I'm just wondering what you'll do when Kira kills B. You two seem so close…"

He trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging. "I know Kira will get to B eventually, so until then, I'll enjoy every moment I have with him."

Light nodded and Yatsuki caught what she thought was regret flash in his eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked, already knowing the answer, as she set a plate of food in front of him

"Nothing." He replied before she went off to call B down.

"Kira's feeling guilty." Envy said to Yatsuki. "He doesn't know whether or not he wants to hurt you by killing B."

"I'm aware of that." Yatsuki muttered in response. It was obvious to her by the way Light was acting today. "He's going to do it soon."

She walked into B's room, not even bothering with knocking, and saw him in bed with his back to the door. "Up and at 'em, ya lazy. Time for lunch." She said, smacking what she assumed was B's butt.

B just grunted and pulled the covers over his chin. Yatsuki sighed. "Don't make me get the water balloons."

"I'm up, I'm up." B muttered, sitting up. Yatsuki smiled at him and hugged him. "What?" he asked, hugging her back.

"Nothing. I just felt like hugging you." She smiled and got up. "Now, come on. The food's getting cold."

B sighed, but followed, not really wanting to get out of bed. When they got back into the kitchen/dining room, Light was getting ready to leave. "You're going already?" Yatsuki asked. "You haven't even eaten."

"Mom wants me home. She didn't believe me when I told her you cooked."

Yatsuki laughed. "Fair enough. Bye."

When the door shut, Yatsuki turned to B. "Hope you're hungry." She said, grinning.

"Always." B replied, walking into the kitchen. "What are you going to do about him?"

Yatsuki shrugged. "I dunno. He'll be off to college soon, so that means less time to keep an eye on him. Knowing L, he'll find a way. But I refuse to be left out. I'm not gunna wait until they need me."

"What do you plan on doing?"

She smiled and winked. "Remember what I told you about the Yagamis worrying about my job?" She asked. B nodded. "I found a solution that I think they will have to accept."

B raised an eyebrow. "Do I want to know?"

"I think you do, seeing as that you are a part of it."

Envy walked into the room and turned to B. "If you run now, you might be able to get to the airport before she does anything stupid." He said.

"Then who else will clean up after her when her plan goes horribly wrong?" B asked.

"Hey!" Yatsuki yelled. "Since when has any plan of mine gone wrong?"

"Point taken." B and Envy said at the same time.

Yatsuki grinned. "Now all we gotta do is subtly convince Light to not kill you."

They stared at her. "There's a first time for everything." B said, referring to the no-plan-ever-goes-wrong thing.

"This ain't it."

B sighed and went into the kitchen. He was hungry, and that food smelled good. "I hope you're right." He mumbled under his breath as he turned to look at Yatsuki as she spoke with Envy. _I'm not ready to die yet._


	6. The Scheme part 2

Chapter 6

"You're insane." B muttered as Yatsuki got dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt that said, "…and then Buffy staked Edward. The End." (AN: Lol! JACOB ALL THE WAY!!!) "You know that, right?"

"Insane ideas are almost always the ones that work." She responded. "And it's gone well so far. Light won't kill you. At least, not for a while. And I got the Yagami's off my back about getting a job. Plus, I get to keep an eye on both Light and L throughout the day. It's a win all around."

"And why am I part of this?"

"I need something to do. At least while you're there, I won't die of boredom."

B just sighed and looked out of her window.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Light walked onto the campus of To-Oh University with Ryuuga. (AN: For you idiots out there, that's L) Both had passed their tests with perfect scores and were entering the same major, criminal investigation. But as they entered the room, Light had to refrain from yelling out.

There, sitting crossed-legged _on top of_ the teacher's desk as if it were normal and dressed in casual attire, was Yatsuki. She grinned at him as he walked in before motioning for him to come over. He did, Ryuuga following him like a shadow. "What the hell are you doing here?" Light asked when he reached her, voicing both his and Ryuuga's question.

"Ain't it obvious?" she responded with a smirk. "I'm here to educate using untested and questionable methods as your brains slowly turn to mush from the boredom of going to more school when you could've celebrated freedom by going and doing something useful with your life instead. Like flipping burgers for hungry people."

Light smacked his forehead. Something told him that this would be a long year. Ryuuga, on the other hand, gave her a disapproving look that she returned with a challenging smirk as if daring him to do something about her being there.

She looked up and briefly counted the amount of people in the room. She took a big breath and yelled, "All right everyone, to your seats!"

Light and Ryuuga flinched, since they were right next to her, before going to the last two available seats. "Waddup? My name is Yatsuki Okida. You shall address me as either Yatsuki or Tsuki-chan. None of that 'Miss' or 'Professor' crap. It makes me feel old."

"The way I teach will be completely different from what you're used to. This ain't high school, kiddies. The way I will teach you is by presenting you with real life situations. You will be required to write brief essays describing how you will approach the situation, how you will handle co-workers and family members, and what your conclusion of the case will be. I want you to think like the criminal you are trying to catch, get inside his or her head. I want you to envision yourself at the hypothetical crime scene. I'll admit, it won't be easy, but hey, that's what makes it fun."

She looked at each and every person present before grinning. "Now that the serious stuff is out of the way, I'll tell you a little about myself. You already know my name, so that's out. I was born to Japanese parents in the United States and then moved here five years ago. I'm twenty-two years old. That's right, I'm younger than some of you. Deal with it. If ya'll have any other questions, ask them now." When nobody raised their hands, she smiled. "Good. I didn't want to answer any. Back to business."

She got up off the desk and stood, crossing her arms. "At your seats, there should be a text book and an Itinerary. You can leave the text books on the shelf in the back right corner of the room. We won't really be using them, but the Board requires that you at least have them. The itinerary will show you what we will be covering this year."

A girl raised her hand. "Ma'am, will the scenarios be taken from the text book?" she asked.

"Nope." Yatsuki replied. "They will be scenarios that I will make up… or take from _CSI_." She looked at the clock above the door. "My assistant will be here next week to assist me and help you along. You are to treat him with the utmost respect. In the meantime, I will be handing out some papers that I want you to read. It is a step-by-step process that you should take in solving crimes. This is what they will teach you when you go out in the field as newbies. Keep in mind, this is not set in stone. It can go in any order and usually it does. Remember this." She picked up a stack of papers and started to hand them out.

"Lucky for you guys, I don't believe in work on the first day. You're pretty much free to do whatever until it's time to leave. Hell, you can even leave now if you want to. I won't stop you."

As a few people got up, she said, "Oh, and one more thing. I will be bringing convicts in to tell tales on what was going through their heads as they committed crime. As I said earlier, I want you to think like a criminal. Get into their minds." She looked up at the students to see shocked faces. "And for those of you who were going to leave, you fail. Now sit."

They did as they were told.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"How did I do?" Yatsuki asked Light after class.

"Honestly, you scared the crap out of me." He responded. "I've never seen you so intense."

"Really?" she asked. "I never meant to scare anyone, just to get my point across."

"Trust me, Tsuki-chan." Light said. "You did."

She grinned. "I feel like skipping." She said randomly before doing so in the direction of the gate. Light just smiled and shook his head.

"She's something else, isn't she?" Ryuuga asked, walking up next to Light.

"You have no idea." Light responded.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Yatsuki entered the hotel room where the Task Force was currently residing. The first thing that she noticed was that she was the only one except L who wasn't wearing a suit. The second thing was that everyone was giving her disbelieving looks. "What?" she asked.

"YOU'RE INSANE!!" Matsuda yelled.

"I know. I get told that quite often."

"This isn't a joke, Tsuki-chan!"

"For once, I agree with Matsuda." Soichiro said. "What if Light is Kira? You've put yourself in danger."

"By teaching a bunch of kids how to catch criminals?"

"How did you get that job?" L asked from where he was sitting in front of some monitors.

"Carefully."

Everyone gave her stern looks. "Look, it's none of your business how. I got the job because of my experience with the Police Force. That's all you need to know and that's all that matters." She said.

L turned and looked at her. "This isn't helping your case much."

"My case? You mean about you thinking that I'm Kira?" When L nodded, Yatsuki shook her head. "You go right on ahead thinking that. I don't care. And if all you called me here for was to yell at me then I'm leaving. I got enough of that growing up."

She turned and started to leave. "Tsuki-chan." She stopped when she heard Matsuda say her name and looked at him. "I believe you."

She smiled at him. "Thanks, Matsuda." Then she left.

"I think that I'll bug her house." L mused out loud, conveniently leaving out the "again."

All the others looked at Soichiro. He sighed and nodded.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Yatsuki was sitting on the desk in the college room with her arms and legs crossed and her eyes closed, waiting for everyone to get here. When the last person arrived, she opened her eyes. "All right. It's been over a week since you started. If you've been keeping up, then you'll be fine. If not, try catching up. We're moving on."

The door opened and everyone turned to see who was walking in. "You're late." Yatsuki stated plainly as the figure approached the desk and sat in the chair behind it.

"Sorry, Tsuki-chan." B muttered.

She turned to him and smiled before grinning at the class. Light's eyes widened as he realized what was going on. "Ladies and Gents." Yatsuki started. "I am pleased to introduce to you my assistant, Beyond Birthday."

Whispers and murmurs erupted in the class room. "The real Beyond Birthday?" Someone asked.

"The one and only." Yatsuki responded. "Say 'hi,' B."

B rolled his eyes. "Hi, B"

Yatsuki flicked him on the nose. "Don't be a smart ass. That's my job." She turned back to the class. "My good friend here will pretty much be your final project. You are to study him and his habits while he is here and turn in your observations and try to figure personality traits and how you think his brain works. In other words, your final project will be to get inside his head, so to speak, and tell me what you see. Do not let what you've heard about him cloud your judgment. That is the worst thing you can do in the field."

She turned to B and smiled. "Well, my friend. Shall we begin?" B nodded.

"All right. I will give three scenarios today. You are to pick one and write a brief two to three page essay about how you would apply what we've been talking about over the past week to that particular scenario. I want it turned in tomorrow. When I'm finished giving them, you will have the rest of the class to write down your thoughts and ideas. Scenario one…"

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Light was impressed. Yatsuki was turning out to be a better teacher than he thought she would be. When it came to History, she was a bit of a dunce. But put her in a classroom for detective work, and she excelled. He didn't know if he should be worried or not. _This is Yatsuki._ He reminded himself. _The girl who can't find her way out of a cardboard box._

Still, it worried him. He needed to be careful. Just because she's acted like an idiot in the past doesn't mean that she is one, and her teaching this class proves it. He didn't know her as well as he thought, and that unsettled him. He only hoped that she wouldn't become a problem, or else he would have to eliminate her. And, truth be told, he really didn't want to.


	7. Trust and Tragedy

Chapter 7

Yatsuki yawned and sat on the couch next to B before leaning over and setting her head in his lap after he adjusted his seating position. "B! I'm bored!!" she moaned up at him.

"Why don't you finish grading those papers?" he asked.

"I did that already." She said. "I'd go over to the Yagami's, but I think Papa Y. is pissed at me."

"Why would he be pissed at you?" B asked.

"'Cause I'm teaching at To-Oh and possibly being a burden to the investigation."

"Why don't you go work in the garage?" B asked.

"Nobody's buying at the moment. Therefore, I have no reason to."

B thought for a moment. He would ask Envy what to do, but L had bugged the house again, so he couldn't. Envy had left to go someplace anyway, so it wouldn't matter if L had bugged the house or not. Yatsuki looked like she had an idea and grinned wickedly. "What are you thinking?" B asked. When she grinned wider he added, "Never mind. I don't want to know."

She laughed and sprang up, grabbing his hand and dragging him into the garage. It was the only place in the whole house where they couldn't put cameras. "What are you doing?" B asked as Yatsuki picked up one of her laptops and dragged him back out to the couch. "And why did you drag me in there only to come back out here?"

She didn't answer, just giggled as she opened the laptop and started to type. After a few minutes, she set it on the coffee table and waited, smirking.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

L and the others had their eyes trained on the screens in front of them, where Yatsuki and B were sitting on the couch. She had gone and gotten a lap top from her garage and just started typing. "What's in that garage?" Matsuda wondered aloud, voicing everyone's question.

Yatsuki hit the "enter" key on her laptop and set it on the table in front of her, smirking. They could see the codes written on the screen of the lap top, but they had no idea what they were.

A few seconds later, all the screens went black and all audio was lost. "What the-"

"Greetings!" Yatsuki's voice said as her image appeared on the screen in the middle. She was grinning from ear to ear. "Did you really think that you could get this past me, L?" she asked. She was talking to them using the camera on the computer!

"How did you know?" L asked.

"Because I'm Yatsuki Okida and I'm bitchin' that way." She replied. They heard B sigh in the background and she giggled. "Ok, fine. I heard the zoom lenses of the cameras working."

"Can you see us, to?" Matsuda asked as everyone gave him pointed looks.

"No." Yatsuki replied. "But it's not hard to guess the looks on your faces. L just stares on blankly while Matsuda is staring in wonder and awe and the rest of you in surprise and general pissed-offedness."

"I don't think that that's a word, Tsuki-chan." B said.

She turned to look at him. "Well it is now." She said before sticking out her tongue. She turned back to the camera. "Anyway, I just wanted to say 'you are the weakest link. Goodbye.'" With that, the screen went black.

"How does she do that?" Ida asked.

"Just like she said." Matsuda replied, grinning. "She's Yatsuki Okida."

Soichiro sighed. "Still, this could cause a problem."

"On the contraty." L said. "If we play our cards right, we could use this in our favor." He turned to Watari. "Please get the head of the FBI on the phone." Watari nodded. Two could play at this game.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Yatsuki shivered and stepped down from the chair that she was using as a ladder to remove the hidden camera she had recently found. "Are you cold?" B asked.

"No." she replied. "Just got a bad feeling."

Just then, Envy phased through the door. "There you are!" Yatsuki said. "Help us find the bugs."

Envy just nodded and helped as she told him what happened while he was away. He chuckled and shook his head. "You know you just got yourself into a whole lot of trouble, right?" he asked.

She shrugged and then sneezed. "Is a cute boy talking about you?" B asked.

She grinned. "Yupp."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"I don't understand the request, sir." The head of the FBI said to L over the phone.

"Yatsuki Okida is a suspect in a case I'm currently trying to solve. I was hoping you could help me." L replied calmly.

"What case is it?"

"The Kira case."

There was a pause. "I don't know what she did that made you suspect her, but I can tell you right now that there is no way in hell that she's Kira."

"And why is that?" L asked. Everyone else stayed silent as they waited to hear the response (L had the phone on speaker.)

"Because she's terrified of the concept of death." The man finally replied. "If you even say the word around her, she freezes up and goes into some kind of fit."

Soichiro's eyes widened. That explained the reaction she had when he mentioned the deaths of the FBI agents. It also explained why she never stuck around to hear about the outcome of cases that she helped on.

"Do you know why?" L asked.

"No." The man replied. "I don't know much else about her, myself. She's kept a pretty tight lid on everything. I can only think that it was some kind of traumatizing experience from when she was a kid." The man sighed in thought. "Is that all?"

"Yes." L responded. "Thank you. You have been most helpful."

"What are we going to do?" Soichiro asked.

Just then, the door opened and in walked Yatsuki with two bags in her hands, whistling a strange tune. One she threw onto the couch and the other she carefully lay on the table before turning and walking towards the door.

"Miss Okida." L said, making her stop in her tracks. "You lied about working with the FBI."

She turned to him with an annoyed look. "No I didn't. You asked if I was an agent, and I'm not." She pulled out a badge and showed it. "I'm a computer specialist. And even then, I don't work with them directly. Now, with all possible respect, get the hell out of my business." She pocketed the badge and walked out of the room.

"As long as you're a suspect, your business is mine as well."

They heard her footsteps stop and head back to the room. She poked her head through the door and glared at L. "Has anyone ever told you that you're an annoying little fucker?"

All the men in the room looked at her, shocked that she'd say something like that. L, on the other hand, remembered a certain little girl from Whammy's who said the exact same thing. He nodded. "Many times."

Yatsuki rolled her eyes and walked away, not turning back this time.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"The nerve of him!" Yatsuki yelled as she walked into the house. "He is such an asshole!"

"L?" both B and Envy said at the same time, looking up from the game of Scrabble that they had set up on the floor of the living room.

Yatsuki paused and laughed at them, her bad mood forgotten. "Yeah." She replied, sitting and grabbing some letters. She looked at the board, the words "Death," "Animal," and "Notebook" already on the board. "He's so friggin' annoying."

"And yet he was one of your best friends." B muttered, setting down tiles that spelled out the word "Killer."

"'Was' is the key word there." She said as she set down tiles, forming the word "Alias."

"I think he's still looking for you." B said as Envy spelled the word "King." "Or, he's looking for S."

Yatsuki snorted. "I know he is. What I want to know is why. I left before you did, so it couldn't be because he thinks I'll end up like you. And it's not like I was the first to leave, anyway. So why is he so interested in finding me?"

B and Envy stared at her. "Because." B muttered as he started to spell a word. "He felt the same way about you that I do. Most likely, he still does." The tiles spelt the word "Love."

Yatsuki's eyes widened slightly before she stood, cleaning up her tiles. "I'm going to get some food. What do you want?" she said.

"Cake." B replied.

Yatsuki playfully rolled her eyes and smiled when B threw a tile at her. But when she opened the door, there stood L, ready to knock. Her eyes widened before setting into a cool gaze. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Is this a bad time, Tsuki-chan?" he asked. At the sound of his voice, B was at her side with one arm wrapped around her waist possessively. The two men seemed to glare at each other. You could cut the tension with a knife.

"Not at all." Yatsuki said. "I was just about to go get us some dinner. B, please clean up for when I come back."

B nodded but didn't move from her side. "Would you mind terribly if I joined you?" L asked, his glare not breaking from B's.

"Of course not." She replied, ignoring the way B's grip tightened around her waist.

L nodded and motioned to the black car that was parked on the street, Watari waiting next to it like a good Butler. It made Yatsuki's blood boil. She moved from B's grip, but not before he managed to somehow give her a quick kiss while L was watching. L's glare became more intense and B looked a little smug. Yatsuki mumbled something about immature children and walked to the car, completely ignoring Watari. A chill went up her spine and she turned to look at the Yagami household to see Light watching from his bedroom window.

She pondered reasons of why he would be as she got in the car, closely followed by L. When Watari got in the driver's seat, L spoke. "Are you still angry with me, Tsuki-chan?" he asked, innocently.

"Duh." She responded. L reached for the passenger seat and pulled out a container of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Yatsuki squealed and grabbed it, a grin on her face. "You're forgiven." She said as she ripped off the lid and took a spoon that L offered her. Watari chuckled and L smiled slightly at her childish behavior.

After half an hour of waiting for the food and childish bickering, L and Watari dropped off Yatsuki at her house and bid her goodnight before driving off. She turned the key in the lock and opened the door, dropping the food to the floor.

////////////

The Yagami's were having a quiet evening watching TV in the family room with the windows open, even though Light was far from relaxed.

Halfway through the movie, a scream ripped through the room. "That sounded like Tsuki-chan!" Saiyu yelled.

Soichiro immediately jumped into action, telling his family to stay in the house as he went to check what happened, grabbing a gun on the way out. He didn't expect what he saw.

Yatsuki was kneeling on the floor, a motionless B lying in her lap looking peaceful with a small smile on his face, his fingers still holding hers as if he died holding her hand, which he probably did. Yatsuki was in hysterics, unable to breath and a small trickle of blood was flowing from the corner of her mouth, repeating the word "No" over and over. Soichiro immediately called an ambulance and rushed to Yatsuki's side, stepping over a bag of food and a few Scrabble tiles that spelled out the words "I love you S" that were on the floor.


	8. Healing

Chapter 8

Beeping. That's all Yatsuki could hear. A steady, rhythmic beating. It was very, very annoying. She slowly opened her eyes only to see a white ceiling. Her room doesn't have a white ceiling… where the hell was she? There was a mask of some kind over her face. She reached up and pulled it off. A breathing mask? Huh… she must be in a hospital. She hadn't been in one since she left the States. A sweet smell came to her nose and she turned towards it. The table next to her bed was full of candies and flowers and cards. She felt something in her hand and looked at it. It was a Scrabble piece. The letter "S" painted in black. She remembered picking it up before some people took her out of her house and away from B.

B…

Yatsuki made a fist, squeezing the Scrabble piece, and rested her arm over her eyes, a fresh wave of tears coming to the surface. "Damn…" she muttered. "DAMMIT!!!" She rolled onto her side and cried into the pillow, not caring about the needles in her arms. She hugged the pillow close to her, sobbing uncontrollably. She didn't even notice the nurse that came in and looked at her sadly, checking all her vitals and whatever it is nurses do.

After almost an hour, she was all cried out and just staring at nothing, a blank look on her face. He didn't deserve to die… no. Not her B… not her B.

She heard voices. They were muffled, even though they shouldn't be. She tried to make them out, but couldn't. She felt someone stroke her hair and she closed her eyes, comforted by the feeling. The last thoughts she had before falling into a tormented sleep were memories of B…

//////////

The Yagami's rushed to the hospital the moment that they heard that Yatsuki was awake. They got there only to find the entire Task Force, minus L, already there. "She won't respond to anything." Matsuda said, clearly worried. Saiyu grabbed her hand. "Tsuki-chan? It's Saiyu."

No response. Yatsuki just stared at the wall, looking dead. The only thing that proved otherwise was the constant beeping of the heart monitor.

Saiyu started to cry, hating that Yatsuki was like this. The doctor explained that she has some rare heart disease that causes her heart to stop under extreme conditions. The combination of finding her best friend dead and her extreme fear of death had sent her over the edge, despite the medications that she had been taking to help.

Light took Saiyu out of the room. This was hard on him as well. If he had known about Yatsuki's heart condition, then he never would've killed B. Light cared about Yatsuki a lot, and it pained him as much as anyone else to see her like this, yet his pain was worse because he knew that he was the one who caused it.

Mrs. Yagami sat in a chair close to Yatsuki's head and started to stroke her hair. Yatsuki's eyes shifted towards her, though they didn't focus. "Mama?" she muttered before falling into a restless sleep. Mrs. Y started to cry as well as Mr. Y held her. Yatsuki had called her "mama" once before while helping in the kitchen before staring into the bowl she was mixing ingredients in and shaking her head. That was the only time, and Mrs. Y always looked back on that day with a smile. But now, it made her sad. Yatsuki might not recover from the heart attack.

//////////

Darkness. That's all that Yatsuki could see. There was no light, no pain, no feeling what so ever. She liked it, wherever she was. All the dreams, the memories had faded into the darkness. She knew it was only temporary, that they would be back with a vengeance later. But until then, she would treasure the peace.

_Sora…_

"Who's there?"

_You should know. Who else calls you Sora?_

"B…?"

_Yeah. You need to wake up. Everyone's worried about you._

"But I don't want to. It's nice here."

_But you have to. You have a class to teach, a detective to make miserable, a family to be a part of. You have a life to live._

"You did to."

_You mean hiding in the house for fear of being seen with my scars? Eating sweets at all hours of the day? Playing Scrabble with Envy until you got home? Yeah, that's a really good life._

"Don't be sarcastic. I'm serious."

_So am I. Wake up, get better, and move on. Please. For me._

"… All right…"

_I love you._

"…I love you to."

////////////

Yatsuki's eyes slowly opened to see everyone staring at her sadly. "Why the long faces?" she asked, her voice scratchy from not being used for a while. "Horses would be jealous of you guys."

There was a collective sigh of relief and Yatsuki bit back a comment on how creepy that was. Yatsuki sat up, with the help of Matsuda, and looked at them all. She smiled weakly and looked down at the Scrabble piece that was still in her hand. "Mrs. Yagami?" she asked. "Do you think that someone could drill a tiny hole in this so it could be threaded with a cord and used as a necklace?"

Mrs. Yagami nodded before giving her a tight hug. "Thank God." She muttered. "Thank God."

Yatsuki patted her back as the woman pulled away. "You're ok!!!!!" Saiyu yelled, running into the room and tackling Yatsuki with a hug.

Yatsuki ignored the pain in her chest and smiled. "Of course I am. I'm Yatsuki Okida. And I'm just plain awesome that way."

"I'm glad you're ok." Light said, staying at the foot of the bed. Yatsuki could hear the sincerity in his voice and smiled slightly.

"I'm glad I'm ok to." She replied. "Now when can I leave? I want ice cream."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Yatsuki yelled as she ran out of the hospital. It had been almost a month since what is known as "the incident," and she was about ready to rip her hair out from boredom. Have you ever tried to entertain yourself in a hospital room when the only visitors you get can only come in the evening? It's not fun.

Mr. Yagami smiled as Yatsuki jumped up and down like a little girl and took a deep breath of air. He was sent to pick her up by L… even though he would've done it anyway. He guided her to the car and thy were off to the hotel that was currently serving as headquarters. Mr. Yagami made a point to stop by the ice cream store on the way.

Yatsuki walked into the hotel room very happy with a carton of ice cream. She walked straight up to L and pointed her spoon in his face. "You… What the hell? No phone call, no e-mail, no trying to contact me with that weird little voice over thingie you do, nothin'." She took a bite of ice cream, waiting for a reply.

"Nice to see you as well, Tsuki-chan." L said with slight annoyance. "How are you doing?"

"Perfectly fine. Now please answer my question."

L sighed. "I didn't see the need to. The others kept me informed on your progress, so there was no reason to check up on you myself."

"But that's only part of the reason." She said. L looked at her. "You're not that hard to read once someone knows what to look for."

L just looked back to the computer screen. Yatsuki sighed and set down the now empty carton before grabbing the back of L's collar and literally dragging him away into another room. "Talk now." _She said, leaving behind some very confused Task Force members._

Once the door was closed, confirming that the two were alone, Yatsuki crossed her arms. "It's because you were afraid of my reaction if you sowed up dressed like B, isn't it?" she asked.

"What are you talking about, Tsuki-chan?"

"Don't play dumb with me. That's the reason why you didn't come to visit me personally, right?"

L placed his thumb to his lips, the way he does when he's analyzing something. The only thing he does that doesn't fit any of his alias'. The only thing he does that is truly L. "That is correct." He mumbled.

"Why do you care?" she asked. "I'm just the girl next door- literally. I have nothing to give, so why bother?"

"Because you are important to the team members. If something were to happen to you, they would get depressed and wouldn't be able to work."

Yatsuki thought back to something B had said on the night that he died. _He feels the same way about you that I do…_ She sighed, depressed now.

She felt L place a hand on her shoulder. "If you need some time off… feel free to take it."

She looked up at him and gave him a tired smile. "Thank you." She said before kissing his cheek and walking out the door to rejoin the others. L touched his cheek and smiled slightly before following.


	9. How to breach personal space

Chapter 9

Yatsuki sat on the desk in her classroom Indian style and stared out at the students as they worked. Light and L were late. She sighed and ignored the feeling that they were making idiots out of themselves.

Sure enough, another teacher came into her classroom. "Miss Okida," he said. "Two of your students are causing quite a stir." She sighed irritably, already knowing who it was. "They're playing a game of tennis. I don't know what started it, but they've drawn quite a crowd. They even have their own referee."

She sighed again and massaged her temples. "There is no point in stopping them." She told him. "Let them play it out. I'll deal with them when they get here."

A few minutes later, both men walked into the classroom looking slightly frightened. The teacher from before had told them that Yatsuki was not happy with something and them missing class just made it worse. "Front and center." She told them calmly. You knew something bad was coming when she seemed calm. "Gentlemen." She started. "What the hell were you thinking!"

They both flinched. "It was just a game of tennis." Light said.

Yatsuki fixed him a hard look and he seemed to shrink away. "You see this assignment?" she asked, pointing to what was written on the board behind her. "The page count is doubled. For both of you."

"But, Tsuki-chan-"

"No but's, Ryuuga." She said. L shut his mouth. You knew she was serious when she didn't use any nicknames. "Now take a seat."

As they headed to the only two free seats, which were conveniently on separate sides of the room, Yatsuki stopped them. "Who won, anyway?" she asked, reclining into a more relaxed position.

"I did." L said.

Yatsuki turned and looked at Light. "You got beat." She said. "By a panda."

A few of the others in the room snickered and Light blushed slightly. But before he could respond, she just shook her head and motioned for him to sit before taking out her laptop and working on it.

L watched her closely. That laptop of hers never left her person, and if it did, she locked it in the garage that no one could get into because of the security that was placed on the only working door that led to the garage. She had beefed it up after they had removed the cameras the first time and he wondered if she knew that there were cameras to begin with.

_What is on that laptop that is so valuable to you, Tsuki-chan?_ L wondered as he watched her typing away. She looked up and they made eye contact briefly before she looked back down to the screen, a smirk on her face.

_You can look, L._ she thought. _But you can't touch._

L was once again observing Yatsuki and her habits as they worked in the hotel room. The way her head would tit slightly when she was listening, the way she would bite her lip when she was thinking, the way she acted with everyone. Everything about her was exactly like Sora.

He watched her as she worked on her laptop, curiosity about its contents obvious in his eyes. "What is on that computer, Tsuki-chan?" he asked.

She glanced at him before going back to work. "Case files." She said.

He picked up on the partial lie. Her right ring finger twitched when she lied. The same as with Sora. "May I have a look?" he asked, already reaching for the computer.

"No!" she exclaimed, snatching it away. Everyone stared at her, but she ignored them and focused on L. "It's none of your business."

"If you are keeping information that could help with the case, then it is my business." He replied.

"It has nothing to do with the Kira case."

Again, her right ring finger twitched, but only slightly. Another partial lie.

"Don't lie to me, Miss Okida." He said, calling her by her formal name to show that he was serious. "I know when you're lying."

"Apparently not."

He looked at her right hand. "Your right ring finger twitches when you're lying."

Yatsuki looked at him oddly before looking at her hand and then back at him. "How do you know that it doesn't twitch when I tell the truth?"

L sighed. This was a favorite game of Sora's. To lead a person around in a circle until they are utterly confused. "I'm not going to play this game with you."

"What game?" she asked innocently.

"Tsuki-chan, just give him the laptop." Soichiro said with a sigh.

She glanced at him before picking up her purse and leaving, not even bothering to give them a response. "We may have to place bugs in her house again." L muttered and everyone else let out a collective sigh.

Meanwhile, Yatsuki made her way home on her motorcycle. Once she was at her house, she made a beeline for the garage and locked herself in there for the rest of the afternoon. "What happened?" Envy asked, phasing through the door.

"L's a nosey ass." Was her only reply as she got to work on a new laptop. She had a feeling that she'd need it.

Yatsuki sat at her desk, noticing that L wasn't here today… again. His absences were getting more and more frequent, but she understood it. He was busy on the Kira case and couldn't spend all his time following Light around. But it only made the feeling that he was up to something grow.

She was proven right when her phone vibrated, telling her that she had a text message about halfway through class. She glanced at it and her eyes went wide. She shot out of her seat and ran out the door, ignoring the questioning looks. She quickly called the principle, telling him that someone tried to break into her house before jumping on her bike and gunning it off of the campus.

She didn't bother putting her bike away, she just ran straight inside the house. Nothing was moved or disturbed, it seemed. She slowly walked into the house, inspecting everything, but nothing was out of place.

"They got into the garage." Envy whispered, walking out of the kitchen. "And they placed cameras everywhere. I couldn't do anything without implicating you. I'm sorry."

Yatsuki's eyes grew wide at the mention of the garage and she rushed to the door. The lock on it had been hacked. She could tell because it was blinking red instead of green. She held her breath as she opened the door and she felt her blood run cold. "He has the laptop." She muttered.

"They took some other things as well." Envy said standing next to her. But she didn't care. Nothing there could make her a suspect in anything, and she didn't break any crimes. However, what was on that laptop was a different story all together.

L watched with interest as Yatsuki muttered to herself, pacing the living room of her house angrily. _Who do you talk to?_ He wondered before turning back to the laptop, busying himself with trying to crack the password. He heard her mutter something about leaving Japan after she "takes care of some business" and shook his head. She wouldn't be leaving. Not if he could help it.

He entered a word as the password. Denied.

He looked up at the T.V screen when Yatsuki's ranting stopped. She stood in the middle of the room, her head tilted to the side as if listening to someone. She started to nibble on her lip before pacing again, only slower than last time and she didn't mutter to herself.

He turned back to the laptop and entered another word. Denied.

"You need to stop talking to me out loud like that." Envy told Yatsuki, making her stop in her tracks. "There're cameras and bugs, remember?"

Yatsuki stared at him for a few seconds before she started pacing again, only slower and without muttering to herself and Envy. "Why don't you just crash the computer?" Envy asked.

Yatsuki glanced at him. "The other one isn't finished yet." She muttered, even though she knew L was listening.

"But you have all the information from the one L has on that disk, right? They didn't take it. Finish the one that you're working on later and load the info from the disk."

She glanced at the garage door then looked at Envy with a raised eyebrow, silently asking if there were any cameras in there. When Envy shook his head, she headed to the garage and shut the door. She'd have to fix the lock later. "Don't you think that I haven't thought of that already?" she asked him once the door was safely closed. She walked over to the main computer and turned it on before running a program that would tell her if anyone had placed some kind of tracker that would tell them what she was doing.

L typed in another word. Denied.

He sighed in frustration before glancing at the T.V screen. Yatsuki had gone into the garage almost fifteen minutes before and it made him uneasy knowing that they couldn't place any cameras in there without them being easily found.

He typed in another word. Denied.

Maybe he was going about this all wrong. If Yatsuki was Sora, then he might have to think like the real woman, not the alias.

He typed in a word. Denied.

Maybe it wasn't a word, but a name?

He typed in Beyond. Denied

He typed in Birthday. Denied

He combined the two. Denied

He sighed in frustration again, wishing that he had the right hacking equipment. Everything that he had tried so far had failed and the ones that might work had to be ordered and shipped, and that could take days.

He entered another name. Denied

His eye twitched. If he were Sora, what would he use as a password?

He remembered something from the orphanage and his eyes widened. Of course. Why didn't he think of it sooner? He typed in the name. Access Granted.

The main computer had just finished the sweep, finding and destroying a tracking program when Yatsuki's phone vibrated again. She froze and pulled it out, only to read a text that told her that someone had accessed her computer. She had programmed that to happened of someone had gotten access by some kind of hacking device or had tried to type in her password more than once and somehow succeeded. She cursed silently until the phone rang.

She answered it, knowing it was L. "What?" she asked, surprising herself with the venom in her voice.

"Is that necessary, Tsuki-chan?" L's synthetic voice said over the phone.

"It is when all you're doing is gloating." She responded.

"But I didn't gloat."

"Isn't that what you're calling to do?"

"No." he said. "I'm calling to tell you that I'm extremely impresses with your laptop. It was very difficult to get through the firewalls, and even more so to figure out the password." Yatsuki was seething, but bit her tongue. "I wonder what Near would say when he learns that S-chan is alive and well, _and_ remembers everything."

"Blackmail, L? And here I thought that you couldn't sink any lower."

"Not blackmail. Just thinking out loud."

Yatsuki ground her teeth. "Why are you doing this? It's none of your business!"

"You made it my business when you ran away all those years ago, and even more so when you withheld information for the Kira case."

"I'm telling you, there's nothing on there that has to do with the case!"

L made a noise that said that he didn't believe her before falling silent. "This is interesting." He muttered. "Tell me, Tsuki-chan. What is in the file labeled 'Death Note?'" Yatsuki drew in a breath as her blood ran cold. "It has three more passwords protecting it. It must be something important."

"Don't you dare look in that file, or so help me I'll remove all that makes you a man."

"It must be important." L continued, seemingly unfazed by her threat. "Especially if you threaten me so."

Yatsuki turned back to the master computer and started typing furiously. "I'm warning you. Don't. Look. At. That. File."

"One password down."

She started to type faster.

"Two passwords down."

She copied and pasted it to an email.

"Three passwords down. I'm in, Tsuki-chan."

"Not for long."

She hit send.

L let out a startled cry as the laptop in front of him started to spark and the screen shut off. The computer had crashed.

However, he did manage to see a line from what looked like a list of rules.

"1. The person whose name is written in this note shall die."

He picked the phone back up and glared at the T.V screens, mostly at the one that Yatsuki was facing, smiling triumphantly. "I hope you like Bar-B-Q." she said before all the screens went to white noise and she hung up.


	10. First Encounters

Chapter 10

Yatsuki sat behind her desk, typing on her new laptop with a triumphant smirk on her face. Why was she smirking? She could feel L's slightly annoyed gaze as she sat there, subtly rubbing her victory over him in his face. _Serves him right._ She thought. _That's what he gets for messing with Yatsuki Okida._

"What's wrong, Ryuuga?" Light whispered to his companion.

"She's mocking me." L responded, still staring at Yatsuki.

"What do you mean?"

L didn't respond and just continued to stare, thoroughly annoyed at both himself and her. How could he not have known that she would have done something like that? This was S he was dealing with. The only person who could beat him at chess, the girl who knew him so well she could predict his moves with frightening accuracy. She was dangerous, a ticking bomb. No wonder she and B got along so well.

And with all the knowledge stored in that head, she could easily take him down. Especially if she had Kira's powers. So if she did, why hasn't she disposed of him yet? _Because she's not Kira._ He told himself. _While some things fit, many more don't add up. And she had a point about Kira being a student._ He mentally sighed, knowing that if he asked for her cooperation now she probably won't give it.

He was violently jerked out of his thoughts when something hard hit him in the forehead. He picked up the item, an eraser, and looked up at Yatsuki. "Back to work, Ryuuga." She told him, smirking before returning to her computer.

He sighed, knowing that he would probably get into even more trouble with her if he didn't comply and he didn't want to deal with that, so he continued writing.

Everyone was filing out of the classroom. "Remember, we'll be going to the computer lab tomorrow." Yatsuki said to her students. "Bring your USB drives and your notes. Oh, Ryuuga?" L and Light both turned. Her eyes bore into L's and he suppressed a shiver. She could be down right scary when she wanted to be. "You stay."

"Damn." Light said. "What did you do?" He'd never seen her that angry.

"It doesn't matter." L replied, sitting back down. "I lost the battle, anyway."

Light's eyes widened and he hurried out of the classroom, not wanting to be there when she started speaking. It wasn't until he was halfway home that the information sunk in. Yatsuki had outsmarted L at his own game.

Meanwhile, L and Yatsuki stared each other down before he finally looked away a few seconds later. She smirked before hiding it with a frown. "If you ever try anything like that again," she said, her voice low and menacing. "I swear on the grave of my parents that I will make your life miserable. You will pray for the day Kira will kill you. Do I make myself clear?"

He nodded, wisely avoiding eye contact. "Good." She said, reaching into a desk drawer and pulling out a compact disk. She placed it on the desk and watched his curious expression. "This is all the information from the laptop that I'm willing to give you. Everything else I will tell you when I feel the time is right."

He cautiously walked forward and took the disk from the desk. "Thank you… Sora-chan."

She gave him a small, sad smile. "You're welcome… Law-kun."

He couldn't help but smile and stand up a little straighter, dropping his disguise for just a second. She giggled and stood, picking up her tote bag that held her laptop along with a few other things (*cough*Death Note*cough*) and the two of them walked out together.

"So I am forgiven?" he asked, drooping again.

"For now. Just don't do it again. I'll let you see the entire thing when I feel that I can trust you again." He nodded, thinking that it was within reason.

As they approached Light, she hooked her arm through those of the two boys and started to drag them out. "Where are we going, Tsuki-chan?" Light asked, easily keeping up since he was used to this. L, on the other hand, was trying desperately not to stumble.

"We are going to get ice cream. This idiot here," she motioned to L, "thoroughly pissed me off and as compensation he has to buy me some. You're coming because I want you to and I always get what I want."

Light sighed, knowing that she was right and went along with it for he knew that if he didn't he would be subject to many pranks of varying severity.

Light and Yatsuki were playing a game that they had made up when Kira had first started killing people. They had been talking about the subject in a coffee shop and Yatsuki had asked him what he thought the best way to kill someone was because she thought that heart attacks were too inhumane, thus the game was invented. The game itself was simple. Think of the best ways one could murder someone else.

"I'd say a blade of some kind." Light said. "They're not as easy to track as guns and relatively easy to clean off afterwards."

"Yeah, but the fact that you own one in the first place would make you an immediate suspect." She countered. "Then all they'd have to do is check the blade for anything you may have missed while cleaning it."

L nodded in agreement as he watched the two of them. "What do you think, Ryuuga?" Light asked him.

"I'd lure the person out somewhere where they wouldn't be found and shoot them. I can get rid of the evidence and the body and no one would be the wiser."

Yatsuki gave him an 'are you stupid' look. "That's the best you could come up with?" she said. "People happen upon crime scenes everyday. Now, if you wrapped the body thoroughly in a blanket with cinderblocks attached to it and throw it in the water, I could understand it as long as the boat was a rental and not bought with a credit card."

L nodded, "What about you, Tsuki-chan?" he asked, paying close attention to her answer.

She shrugged. "I'd use an icicle." She said. "They're easy to make and all the evidence melts away."

The two men stared at her. "You scare me sometimes." Light said. She grinned and licked her ice cream spoon. L watched her intently, his mind going one hundred miles a minute. He wouldn't admit it, but she sometimes scared him as well.

"Tsuki-chan," Light started, picking his words carefully. "What are you going to do for that final project now that B is gone?"

The men watched her reaction carefully, looking for any signs of one of those attacks. Yatsuki just stared at the table, suddenly very depressed and fighting off the urge to cry. She took a deep breath to collect herself before responding. "Truthfully, I haven't thought about it." She said, trying to keep her voice from wavering. "I was actually kind of hoping you two would help me figure it out, or at least your dad, Light."

Light nodded before reaching across the table and taking one of her hands in his. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"It's all right." She replied. "You have a right to know."

L watched her expressions carefully, noting how well she could cover up her depression. _Seeing me in this disguise must be torture for her._ He thought.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you meet B?" Light asked, taking a sip of his tea.

Yatsuki grinned. "We met at school." She said. "I don't know what he was doing but I was skipping class and hiding from Ms. Crouch." Yatsuki made a show of shivering. "I hated that woman. Anyway, he found me in the music room playing the piano."

**:FLASHBACK:**

A young Yatsuki, probably only twelve years old, sat at a piano in an abandoned room at Whammy's Orphanage. The room looked like an old dance studio with the wooden floor and a mirror making up one of the walls. She placed her fingers on the keys and grimaced when she heard the out of tune notes. "When was the last time this was used?" she asked herself before smiling. "Well, now I've got something to do when I skip."

It had taken her a few hours to figure out how to tune the piano and to then get it right by ear, but when she finally got it done she couldn't help but grin. She reseated herself and started to play. (A/N: The song is "My Lonely Road" by Isisip. Look it up on Youtube.)

When the song came to a close, she was startled by the sound of clapping. She looked at the mirror wall to see a boy with a slouch and messy black hair leaning against the doorframe. "I wondered who could play so beautifully." He said. "None of the other kids can. So I figured that it must be the new girl everyone was talking about."

She blushed and looked down at the keys. She heard a shuffling sound as he approached her and the piano. "Would you mind if I play with you?" he asked.

She shook her head and moved over to make room. He sat and turned his unblinking gaze to her. "What would you like to play, S?"

She smiled. "I don't know, B. The only songs I know are for one pianist. But I'm sure we can figure something out."

He smiled back and they began to play. "How did you know I was B?" he asked afterwards while they just sat and talked.

"The same way you knew I was S." she replied, smiling softly. "Someone pointed you out to me."

**:END FLASHBACK:**

Ystsuki smiled at the memory, leaving out the part about her own letter lest Light gets the idea that she knew L personally and possibly knows his name. She didn't want him targeting anyone she cared about to get her to spill that information.

"I didn't know you played the piano." Light said, frowning as he realized that there was a lot he didn't know about his neighbor.

She shrugged. "And the flute, harp and guitar." She said, making it sound like it was no big deal. "I was also top of my class and I built my first computer when I was five." Light's eyes widened and he had to force himself from going slack-jawed.

"In short," L said, taking a bite of strawberry cake, "Tsuki-chan is pretty much perfect."

Light wondered if Yatsuki would get whiplash from how fast her head snapped in L's direction, her eyes wide. "Uh… wow." She stammered out. "Thank you, Ryuuga. But I really must disagree."

"Why?" L asked. "You are beautiful, athletic and a certifiable genius. You are perfect."

Yatsuki exchanged a baffled look with Light before she placed a hand on L's forehead. "I appreciate the compliment, but are you feeling okay?" Light politely hid his chuckle behind his hand and turned away, trying to not let it be overheard.

"I'm quite well, Tsuki-chan." L responded, secretly liking the feel of her warm hand on his face. He heard Light say something to draw her attention away from him and silently thanked him. He watched Light and Yatsuki interact with each other, noticing a sibling like bond between the two. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Just like he did when he saw her with B.

**:FLASHBACK:**

L stood at one of the windows in the library, watching the other children play outside. He had heard from Roger that a new girl had been taken into the orphanage. She seemed to excel in any field that she was placed in when she actually decided to attend classes. She spent most of her time skipping said classes. Where she hid was a mystery.

L still hadn't seen her. He would know if he saw an unfamiliar face at the orphanage. Of course, the reasons behind why he hasn't seen her might have something to do with the fact that B seemed to have taken a liking to her. He wondered if he should be worried that B would corrupt the poor girl.

"B?"

L turned to the new voice to see a brown haired, brown eyed girl poke her head into the library and look around. "B-kun?" she asked again before sighing. She turned to walk away when she spotted L. She smiled sweetly. "Hi." She said. "You must be L."

He raised an eyebrow and nodded. "You must be S." He said.

She grinned and nodded in confirmation before the grin turned into a small frown. "Have you seen B?" she asked him. He shook his head. "Damn." Both of his eyebrows shot up into his hairline when he heard the ten year old curse. "Oh well. Sorry to bother you, L."

Over the next few weeks he had made sure to have a few more encounters with S, growing a little jealous when she would spend time with B and not him. It wouldn't be until she left two years later that he would realize that the reason why he would get jealous is because he had feelings for her.

**:END FLASHBACK:**

_You still have feelings for her._ The little voice in the back of his mind told him as he sat in the back seat of his limo. Yatsuki was sound asleep, using his shoulder as a pillow. They had already dropped Light off and were on their way to the current headquarters. _You just don't want to admit it._

_Shut up._ He mentally replied. _She's changed a lot over the years._

He compared Yatsuki now to what she was like back at the orphanage. She was definitely more independent and much less shy. She isn't afraid to speak her mind anymore and she's toned down the pranks a little. However, her temper seems to have gotten shorter and she seems more wary of the things around her. _What happened to you, S? _He wondered. _What could cause such a dramatic change?_ Little did he know that the answer was sitting in the tote bag that was leaning against his leg, a black notebook that was yearning to be used.


	11. Din't Hate Me

Chapter 11

_A young boy with white hair stood in the foyer, hiding behind Whammy's legs. B hung back, leaning against the wall as the other children crowded around Whammy, trying to get a look at the boy. "I almost feel sorry for him." S said, leaning against the wall with B. "He seems to be getting more attention than I did."_

"_They weren't expecting you." B reminded her. "And you arrived in the middle of classes. This boy's arrival was announced and classes are over for the day."_

_She frowned when she saw Mello walk up and start doing what Mello does. Being rude and obnoxious. She pushed herself off of the wall and headed towards the crowd, knowing that B was following her. The crowd parted like the red sea when they saw the two and she walked straight up to Mello. He noticed her shadow and slowly turned, dreading the sight that would greet him._

_S gave him a stern look and crossed her arms. He lowered his gaze to the floor and turned to the new kid. "Sorry for being rude." He muttered. S smiled at him and patted his head. Mello frowned and walked away grumbling. When he was sure she wasn't looking he glanced at her and smiled while blushing before running the rest of the way to his room. But the white haired boy saw._

_He shifted his gaze from Mello to S when she held her hand out to him. "I'm S." she said, smiling at him. "What's your name?"_

_He stared at her for a second before bypassing her hand all together and latching himself to her legs. She looked up at both Whammy, who had a smile on his face, and B who looked a little jealous. The other children left when they saw him immediately attach himself to S. She returned her attention back to the little boy and placed one hand on his shoulder and the other she ran through his hair. "What's wrong, sweetie?" she asked. Her only response was for the child to bury his face into her legs._

"_He is N." L said, walking down the stairs._

"_Look who decided to grace us with his presence." B sneered, giving him that creepy smile._

"_Play nice, boys." S said, stroking N's hair. "So you're N, huh?" she asked the white haired boy. He looked up at her and motioned for her to lean down. She did so and he whispered in her ear. She grinned at whatever he said and whispered something back before pulling away and winking at him. "Let's show you around, N." she said, taking his small hand in hers and gently leading him down the halls._

"_Will you be my new momma?" he whispered to her when he was sure they were alone._

_She gave him a soft smile and nodded. "Of course."_

Yatsuki awoke with tears running down her cheeks. Near… Mello… Matt… She missed her boys. She had missed them for the past ten years. She just wished she were brave enough to contact them. Especially now that she has someone who could get that information for her. _But it'll probably come with a price._ She thought as she wondered if L would help her with that. He would probably want more information from her laptop in exchange.

She wiped the tears from her face and got out of bed to get ready for her day. She was supposed to take the students out of the classroom to a fake crime scene she had set up the night before, and having to explain herself to the guards who kept passing by really tested her nerves. She had resisted the urge to create a real crime scene that involved the bodies of those night guards. It wasn't easy.

There was a knock at the door and a few seconds later, Envy phased his head through the wall to tell her that Light was there. She quickly got dressed and ran down the stairs, nearly tripping on the last one, before opening the door. "Is something wrong, Light?" she asked, too tired to remember to add the 'kun' to the end.

"I was hoping you could give me a ride." He said, acting sheepish. He rubbed the back of his neck. "The weatherman called for rain and everyone left already."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is Saiyu gone to."

"No…"

She sighed. "Give me another half hour and then I'll come get you." He nodded and left to go back to his house. Yatsuki then proceeded to take a shower and get dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt that said 'I can't hear you over the sound of how epic I am.'

"One of these days, you're going to get in trouble for not dressing appropriately for work." Envy said as he followed her to her seldom used car, a white 1996 Mustang Cobra.

"I'm surprised I haven't gotten in trouble already." She replied with a smirk, honking the horn to get Light and Saiyu to hurry up. "Must be my charming personality."

Envy chuckled and went back into the house as Light and Saiyu ran out the door.

"You seem distracted, Tsuki-chan." L said after class was over.

"Because I am." She replied, sighing and shutting her laptop. "Will you do me a favor?"

"Depends on what it is."

Her gaze shifted around the room to make sure everyone was gone before landing on L again. "Will you… will you tell Near and the others… that I miss them?"

"Is that what's been bothering you?"

She nodded. "I keep dreaming about them, wondering how they're doing." The look on her face made him want to hold her and tell her everything would be okay, but he held back. "I miss my boys."

"You should have thought of that before you left… us."

He was about to say 'me,' but he managed to catch himself.

Yatsuki visibly flinched at his harsh tone. "I know." She whispered. "But I had my reasons."

"What reasons could possibly make you abandon the ones you care about? The ones who care about you?"

She looked him in the eye before smiling sadly. "So B was right after all." She muttered, standing up and putting her laptop in her tote bag. "Maybe one day I will explain it to you."

Roger was checking his email in the headmaster's office of Whammy's when he got a message from L himself. He opened it and read the message, his eyes growing wide.

_I found S._

Those three words sent a great relief flooding through the man. He wouldn't admit it, but he had a soft spot for the girl since she arrived at Whammy's Orphanage. He picked up the receiver of the phone on his desk and called one of the teachers. "Send Near, Matt and Mello to my office." He told the teacher before hanging up.

When the three boys stood in front of him, he took a deep breath and said the three words that they have all been waiting to hear for ten years. "He found her."

Mello's eyes widened, Near stopped his puzzle to look at him and Matt literally dropped his game. "Is she… alive?" Mello asked, acting a little more in control than usual.

"Yes." Roger replied, watching as all shoulders slumped with relief. "She is alive and well, although L is a bit worried about her since B died."

"Killed." Near corrected. "B was killed."

"Yes, well, apparently he died in her arms."

"What about Momma's heart?" Near asked, returning his attention to the puzzle. "Momma had a heart problem."

"What?" Mello yelled. "She had a heart problem and didn't tell anyone?"

"She suffered something similar to a heart attack and was hospitalized." Roger said, ignoring Mello. "She seems to be doing fine now, but L is keeping a close eye on her just in case."

"Will she be coming back?" Matt asked. "Just to visit?"

This had Near's attention again. "L told me that he's working on getting her to agree to come, but he won't expect her to readily agree." The three boys seemed to deflate, losing hope. "But he says that she misses you. She's been thinking about all three of you every day for the past ten years."

Matt and Mello smiled and something resembling one appeared on Near's face. "He gave me her email address, if you're interested."

"DAMN YOU L!"

"Yatsuki's here." L stated calmly while everyone else looked slightly frightened.

Yatsuki stomped into the hotel room and marched right up to L's chair, getting in his face. "You gave them my email?" she yelled.

"Tsuki-chan-"

"Don't you 'Tsuki-chan' me! You gave them my fucking email! How the fuck did you get it in the first place?" L was starting to look a little frightened himself, especially when he saw the white ring appear around her pupil. "Well? Answer me!"

"When you sent the code to crash the laptop, you sent it via email." L stated, sounding calmer than he really was.

He didn't see her hand move but he definitely felt the sting when she slapped him. The others watched, wide eyed as she started to rant and rave in some other language that sounded oddly like French. "Did she really just slap L?" Matsuda whispered. All he got was a nod from Mogi.

"Qu'est-ce que vous avez à dire pour vous?" Yatsuki asked L.

"Je suis désolé, Sora." He responded, sounding slightly ashamed with himself. "J'ai pensé que cela vous ferait plaisir."

Yatsuki looked like she was starting to regret slapping him and sighed. "Il suffit de ne pas le faire à nouveau."

He nodded, but didn't say anything. She knelt down so that she was eye level with him and took his chin between her fingers, moving his face so she could see the red mark on his cheek. "Damn." She muttered. "I can hit hard. Matsuda, get me some ice please."

"Right."

She sighed again. "I overreacted, huh?" L didn't say anything, just kept his gaze lowered. She smiled a small smile and kissed the red mark on his cheek before standing to get her bag.

L touched the spot that she kissed and flinched slightly. "I could fall for you, you know." He said.

"Bitch, please." Yatsuki stated, plopping down on the couch and opening her laptop. She turned to look at him and smirked. "I can tell that you already have."

L pouted slightly but didn't deny it as Matsuda came back in with the bag of ice. He handed it to L before everyone went back to their respective jobs.

Later that night, L was sitting at the computer, thinking about what she said. Everyone else except Yatsuki went home and he was hyper aware of her presence on the couch. "Did you mean what you said?" he asked. "About being able to tell?"

He heard her shift and turned his chair so that he was facing her. She stared directly at him. "Honestly, I don't think I'd have noticed if B hadn't pointed it out to me." She said.

"And how do you feel about it?" he asked, standing up and walking over to her.

She blushed slightly. "The same way I've always felt." She replied, refusing to meet his gaze.

He took her chin between his fingers and forced her to look at him. "And that would be?" he asked, leaning in.

She smirked, leaning in as well. "Kiss me and find out."

He didn't need to be told twice.


	12. A Second Kira

Chapter 12

Yatsuki frowned as she stared at her laptop, not seeing the words that were printed on the screen. She was too worried about Chief Yagami. He had a heart attack recently, and the news of that nearly threw her into another fit. Because of that, L had her staying at the hotel with him for the past few days and possibly for a few days more so he could keep an eye on her. She sighed and leaned back onto the armchair. "Ryu-Panda-Kun! I'm bored out of my skull! Can't I go visit Papa Y?"

He gave her an annoyed look. "If you have time to be bored, then you have time to work." He responded.

"On what?" she asked. "There's nothing to work on! We've gone over everything with a fine toothed comb and haven't come up with anything new. Besides, everyone here looks like they need a break."

"Kira doesn't go on breaks."

"According to who? For all we know, he could be sitting in Hawaii working on his tan."

Everyone gave her a look. "Care to explain that theory?" L asked, getting a slightly suspicious glint in his eye.

She rolled her eyes. "Think about it. If he can control the times of death, then it's possible that he could plan them weeks ahead of time. He could be lying on a beach flirting with girls while criminals that he already sentenced to death die all over the world. No one would be the wiser."

There was a pause while everyone considered this. "That… actually makes sense." Matsuda mumbled.

"Gee. Don't act so surprised." Yatsuki replied sarcastically. He gave her a nervous laugh and put his hands up in surrender.

"If that's the case," L started, "Then we could use that time to try to catch up to him."

"With what?" She asked, regretting it as soon as the words left her mouth. For it was at that time that Watari decided to contact L and tell him to turn the T.V channel to Sakura T.V. The word "KIRA" appeared on the screen. "I'm Kira."

"Oh, Karma, thou art a heartless bitch." Yatsuki groaned, plopping down on the couch and watching the screen with a pout. At any other given time, the men would have laughed at her but this was not the right situation.

Everyone watched in horror as Kira killed two men on other T.V news channels as if to prove themselves. The men kept glancing at Yatsuki to see if she was all right, but she wasn't even paying attention to the T.V anymore. Something about this was wrong. It was different from the Kira that they had been chasing.

L glanced back at her and smirked despite himself. Yatsuki was in full blown detective mode now and that meant she would give it her all… until something distracted her. "Something isn't right." She said, surprising even herself with how calm she was.

"Of course it's not right!" Aizawa yelled. "He's killing innocent people!"

"Which is why I think this isn't the same Kira that we've been chasing." Everyone paused to look at her. Even L turned from the three that he was watching to stare at her. "Quit looking at me like I have three heads. Really, it's not that difficult to get to that conclusion. This Kira obviously has no problem killing innocent people to get a point across while the real one never killed innocents unless they stood in his way. Furthermore, the first Kira would never feel the need to prove himself. I mean, let's face it, most of what the real Kira does seems to suggest that he's that arrogant. This person is totally a fraud."

There was a long pause. "Actually," L said, biting his thumb, "I can't help but agree with you. I'm impressed that you thought of that so quickly."

"Don't underestimate me just because I have a pretty face." She said, winking. "The problem now is that we have two Kiras to deal with. However, this one seems to be much less cautious and is probably prone to mistakes."

"What do you propose we do?" L asked, watching her carefully. This side of her always intimidated him. When she got like this, she was no longer the lovable Yatsuki Okida/Sora. She was the detective S.

"I say we wait. The two Kiras are bound to meet. When that happens, we can use the second one to find the first."

Ukita slammed his fist on the table. "How can we wait while there are two Kiras out there killing people?"

She gave him a look that caused him to shut his mouth and shrink back. "Patiently." She replied. "We really have no other choice. The problem we face now is getting the tapes that Sakura T.V received."

"I'll get them." Ukita declared, grabbing his coat and running out the door before anyone could stop him.

"I have a very bad feeling about this." Yatsuki said ominously as she and everyone else returned their attention back to the . "Something terrible is about to happen."

Sure enough, a few minutes later they all saw Ukita show up on the screen of one of the . They watched as he tried to open the locked doors before collapsing on the sidewalk. "He's dead." Envy muttered from where he was sitting in a corner of the room. _Thanks, Captain Obvious_. Yatsuki thought.

Aizawa started to head for the door only to be stopped by L. Yatsuki pretty much tuned everyone out as she watched the screen with rapt attention. However, she couldn't hear anything over Aizawa's yelling. Finally, she snapped, slamming her fist on the table. "Will you two get a grip!" She yelled, glaring at them before returning her attention to the T.V. The two men gave each other surprised looks before turning to the T.V as well and just in time to see what appeared to be a police van slam through the glass doors of the station.

Everyone's eyes widened before Yatsuki started cheering. "Go Papa Y! Get them bastards!" She once again got odd looks from the men but she chose to ignore them, opting to instead pull out her cell phone and set it on the table. "What-"

Matsuda's question died on his tongue when the phone started to ring. Yatsuki answered it and promptly yelled out, "That was friggin' awesome!" They heard Soichiro reply before she handed the phone to L. Yatsuki turned her attention back to the T.V, her smile changing into a grin when all the police men showed up, blocking the cameras from every angle.

"Tsuki-chan?" L asked. "What was that song that you had as your ringtone?"

She gave him an odd look at the random question. "Viva La Gloria Little Girl by Greenday. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering."

She raised an eyebrow but didn't comment as her attention was recaptured by the TV. She watched with a frown as the men carefully left the scene, Ukita's body having been removed. She sighed and turned off the TV and turned to say something to L, but stopped when the door opened and Watari walked in supporting Mr. Yagami. Her eyes widened and she immediately went to help the man over to the couch. "Are you okay, Mr. Y?" she asked worriedly, sitting next to him on the couch.

He smiled. "I'm fine, thank you. I just need to rest."

She nodded. "If you get too tired you can use the bedroom." L looked like he was about to object but she gave him a look and he quickly shut his mouth.

Mr. Y noticed this and chuckled, his smile growing when he heard Aizawa whisper something along the lines of "She's got him whipped" to Matsuda who in turn sniggered. Yatsuki turned to them and threatened to make them guinea pigs for her next experiment that involved the kitchen and they promptly shut up. This made L smirk and Watari and Mr. Y chuckle.

"What are we going to do about Ukita?" Aizawa asked once the mood passed.

Everyone kept a wary eye on Yatsuki as she stared at her shoes as they discussed how to contact the family and maybe finding a replacement for him in the Task Force. "Let's face it." Aizawa said. "It was hard enough getting us to stay. It'll be even more difficult to get someone new."

"What about Light?" Yatsuki asked, drawing all attention to her. However, she kept her eyes trained on L, the two of them looking almost as if they were having a mental conversation. "He's helped on cases before and he's almost as smart as you. What do we have to lose?"

L smirked at her comment about him being the smarter man but let it quickly fall before anyone other than Yatsuki could notice it. "I suppose" He muttered. "But our first order of business should be those tapes." He handed the bag with the envelope that the tapes came in to Aizawa. "Could you take this to the Crime Lab and have it analyzed?"

Aizawa nodded. "I still have some friends over there. I'll make sure that they go over every inch of this."

"You have friends everywhere, don't you?" Yatsuki asked with a teasing tone to her voice.

Of course, she was ignored. "Tsuki-chan and I will go over the tapes. The rest of you can go home." L said, giving Yatsuki a look that told her not to argue. She sighed and grumbled at the thought of having to do more work.

Once everyone left, the two placed themselves in front of two monitors. "I'll take one and two, you take two and three and then we'll switch in case one of us missed anything." Yatsuki said, picking up her two tapes. L nodded and the two of them got to work.

The next morning the Task Force made it to the hotel to find Yatsuki using L's shoulder as a pillow. They smiled but didn't comment. "What do you make of the tapes?" Mr. Y asked.

"They are definitely interesting." L replied. "If the police agreed to cooperate, tape number three was to be played. Tape four if the answer was no." Tsuki shifted slightly and L froze, trying not to wake her up. Once she settled again, after mumbling something about the muffin man, he continued. "Tape three covers the terms of cooperation. Simply he is requesting that we broadcast the names of more criminals. He seems particularly interested in the names of those who have assaulted others or those who have taken advantage of the weak and defenseless."

"This person was probably on the receiving end of a crime like that." Yatsuki mumbled, sitting up with a yawn before rubbing her eyes. "It makes sense."

"How long were you awake?" L asked.

"I woke up shortly after the Muffin Man stole my waffles."

There was a collective silence as all the men stared at her with weirded out looks as she rubbed her eyes, oblivious to the group. "Anyways," she continued, standing up and stretching. "To prove that the police are willing to cooperate, he wants police officials and L to make an appearance on TV for a public announcement that we agree to cooperate with him."

"He needs us to reveal our faces." L said, continuing the train of thought. "That way he can kill us if we do anything suspicious. In other words, he'll hold our lives as insurance."

"And if we were to answer 'no?'" Yagami asked.

"We kind of already did." Yatsuki said. "But anyway, the fourth tape pretty much said the same thing. The wording is just a little different."

"Mr. Yagami." L said, reaching for tape number four. "Please give this to the people at Sakura TV and have them broadcast it."

After Mr. Yagami left, L turned to Yatsuki. "Your thoughts?"

She sighed. "This second Kira can kill with just a face." _So they have the eyes._ "And they seem to have a hatred for assaulters and the like, so they might have had a traumatic experience. That being said, this Kira is most likely female and looks up to the real Kira."

"Who, according to you, is most likely male." Aizawa said, trying to help her train of thought chug along.

She nodded. "The profile fits almost perfectly."

"What about the second Kira being female?" Matsuda asked. "What are you basing that upon?"

"That fact that most assault victims are female." She replied. "Of course, this is all speculation."

They all nodded, everyone except L once again amazed that she could think of all that in such a short period of time. L turned on the TV and they waited for the tape to be aired.

After the tape played in the TV, Yatsuki sighed. "I wonder what she'll do if we don't decide in four days." She mused, stretching her arms before placing her hands behind her head.

"Probably kill the director." Yagami said. "Everyone knows who he is."

"Yeah, but the Director isn't who she wants. She wants L."

"The point is, someone will die." L said, giving them both a look.

"Doubt it." Yatsuki said, her laid back demeanor getting on Aizawa's nerves. When he asked her to explain, she shrugged. "For starters, the real Kira is too self-righteous to let this imposter ruin his name by killing innocent people like those news reporters. If we don't find a way to stop this killing in four days, then he will."

Everyone left that night, wondering what would happen the next day. Yatsuki sighed as she sprawled on the couch and closed her eyes. It was her first day home in weeks. "How are you?" Envy asked, sounding slightly worried.

"I've been better." She answered truthfully. There was a long pause and then, "I don't want him to die."

Envy nodded and gently moved hair from her face. "Do you love him?" he asked.

Yatsuki was quiet for moment. "Yeah." She whispered. "I do."

L watched the monitor that was getting feed from the single camera in Yatsuki's house. She was talking to herself again. _You do what?_ He wondered, biting his thumb. "It's not fair." She whispered, putting her arm over her eyes. "It's not fair."

"Life isn't fair." Envy said. "It's something you have to get used to."

"You don't think I know that!" she yelled, suddenly angry. She stood and started pacing. "My parents were killed when I was four and I was forced to watch; my best friend died in my arms, killed by that murdering bastard who lives next door; the man I'm in love with is always in danger because of his profession and a good kid who I watched grow up has become a murderer! Don't tell me that life not being fair! I know this already! I'm only human, I'm aloud to break down and cry because of my shitty life every now and then."

She plopped down on the couch and placed her face in her hands, choked sobs being the only sound in the room. "I'm so tired." She whispered. "I'm tired of being the strong one."

Envy did the only thing he could. He sat next to her and hugged her.

L watched her little breakdown on the screen. He had no idea that she was suffering so much. And what did she mean about the "murdering bastard who lives next door?" Did she know for a fact that Light was Kira? If so, then why hasn't she said so? Why didn't she bring forth the evidence that told her that Light was Kira? _That's probably why she agreed to join in the first place._ L thought. _To find evidence._

He sighed and turned off the monitor, no wanting to watch her cry anymore.


	13. Puts the Lie in Believe

Chapter 13

"What's the verdict?" Yatsuki asked when she walked into the hotel room and noticed that Mr. Yagami was there. It had been a little over 24 hours since they broadcasted the reply tape and a good chunk of that time Mr. Y spent in a meeting with the ICPO. They were supposed to decide what to do.

"It's as you and L feared. Several countries have weighed in, and they are in favor of the real L being the one to appear on TV."

She snorted in a very un-ladylike fashion. "It's the only logical choice." L said, trying to calm her obvious annoyance.

"Don't make me laugh." She said. "If we're going to discuss what everyone seems to be afraid of mentioning, then let me make my opinion clear. If anyone should go on the TV it should be the director." She held up a hand to stop the outcries that started. "Look, you can always get a new director and be more careful about his identity. However, finding a new L would be a pain in the ass. There are only two people I can think of who would be up to it and one of them is a suspect."

"Who's the other?" Yagami asked.

Yatsuki reclined in her seat and gave L a look. "N, of course." She ignored everyone as they asked who she was talking about and instead addressed L directly. "However, he is just a boy. He's only, what, thirteen? If even?"

"You are forgetting someone." L replied. She gave him a confused look. "In fact, should I die I would prefer this person to take my place."

"Who would that be?" Matsuda asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" L asked. "The perfect choice. The one person who can beat me at chess, the one who has ever beaten me in these detective games, the only one who knows me so well that she can predict my train of thought." He gave a meaningful look towards Yatsuki. "Would you be up to the challenge, Tsuki-chan?"

Her eyes widened slightly and she stood, walking over and getting in his personal bubble by placing her hands on his knees and leaning in so that their noses were almost touching. "Are you insane?" she asked, giving him a deadpan look. "If B's… passing sent me into a coma for a few days imagine what yours would do. I'd probably be joining you before the little angels could say 'welcome.'"

They stared each other down for a minute before L looked away. "I suppose you're right. But I must admit that outcome is one that I don't want to think about."

"We still have three days." Matsuda cut in. "Maybe we could figure something out."

Yatsuki grinned. "I have the perfect plan."

"If it involves chocolate and a frying pan, we don't want to hear it." L said.

She pouted and crossed her arms, not moving from where she stood in front of him. "Fine. Plan B. We make a fake reply from the 'real Kira' and air it. The reply should state that the real Kira is annoyed at the fake, but not angry, and doesn't want those demands to be met. Something like that." She turned to Mr. Y. "Also, I think that Light should join."

"What are you-"

"I agree with Tsuki-chan." L said, cutting Yagami off. "His deductive skills could be invaluable to us at this stage, but that doesn't mean that he's cleared."

Yagami nodded. "If he wants to join, then I see no problem with it."

"Good. And please don't tell him that we think that there could be a second Kira."

"He'll figure it out anyway." Yatsuki said, placing her hands behind her head.

"What makes you say that?" Matsuda asked.

She turned toward him and grinned, jabbing her own chest with her thumb. "He did learn from the best." She said before taking a stance where her fists were on her hips and her feet were shoulder width apart and letting out a laugh like that one guy from Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs after he told that really bad joke.

L sighed and stood, moving to the side slightly before hooking a finger into one of the belt loops of her jeans and pulling her down so that she was sitting in the chair he had previously occupied. "No more sugar for you." He said, walking away. She crossed her legs and stuck her tongue out at him, making the other men chuckle.

The next day Light walked into the hotel room to see all the men that he expected. However, he didn't expect to see Yatsuki sprawled out on the couch as if she owned the place. "Tsuki-chan? You're on the Task Force?"

She grinned. "Unofficially." She replied, giving him a two fingered salute.

He nodded and shook L's hand. "It's a pleasure to be working with you, Ryuuga."

"Likewise." L replied. "However, while here I must ask that you call me Ryuzaki."

Light looked surprised as the three Task Force members introduced themselves using their aliases. When he turned to look at Yatsuki expectantly, she just laughed. "I've got, like, five. But for simplicity sake, we're sticking with Tsuki."

Light gave her a look. "But isn't it obvious?" When she smiled, his eyes widened. "Yatsuki Okida is an alias, isn't it?"

"Took you five years to figure it out. I'm a little disappointed, Light." She teased.

"Let's get to work." L said, breaking into whatever Light was thinking. "You can start by looking over all the information that we have collected. I would also like you to watch these tapes. They were sent to the TV station but were never aired." Light sat in front of a monitor. "For security reasons you're not allowed to take notes and all materials must stay here."

"Makes sense." Light said with a small smile. He cast a glance at Yatsuki before pressing the play button.

"He doesn't know what to think." Envy said to her as she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "You're probably the one person he ever trusted completely and he just found out that you've pretty much lied to him the entire time you've known him."

She frowned. _And I feel awful about it._ She thought before sighing. Nothing she could do about it now. She watched him like a hawk, looking for any slip in his demeanor. She noticed how he glanced at the men behind him about halfway through the tapes. "What do you think, Light?" L asked.

Light seemed to tense, probably figuring out that it was a test, before he stood. "It's hard to say, but there might be someone out there with Kira's power. At the very least, I think that this tape wasn't created by the Kira we're familiar with. It's extremely out of character for him to use these kinds of victims. And since we've established that Kira needs a name and a face to kill it's odd that that detective and those two officers were killed."

"That's amazing." Matsuda said, grinning. "That's almost exactly how Ryuzaki said it."

"Yatsuki came to the same conclusion, only she got to it a different way." Aizawa said.

Light raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Yatsuki as she stared at the floor, her bangs covering her eyes. "We believe the exact same thing." She said. However, something in her voice clued L that something was off.

"So this was just another test?" Light asked, sounding a little offended.

"I didn't mean to test you." L said, casting a glance that seemed almost worried toward Yatsuki before returning his attention to Light. "The thing is, Tsuki-chan and I both agreed that we needed at least one more person with similar deductive skills to test our theory. If you came to the same conclusion we did, then that just makes it all the more believable. As expected, you did not disappoint us. You've been a big help."

Yatsuki sighed. "Can we move on, please?" she asked, sounding a little irritated.

"Is something wrong?" Light asked her.

"I really hate being right all the time." She said. "A second Kira means more work and this one seems a little more unhinged than the other, less predictable. It's making me uneasy. The sooner we catch this person, the better."

"Agreed." L responded. "We have a plan to draw this second Kira out. Actually, Tsuki-chan came up with it."

"Wow." Light said, looking at the woman in question. "You do everything around here, don't you?" She just laughed.

L gave him an annoyed look before continuing. "Her plan is to create a video from the 'real Kira' to try to lure the imposter into a trap. I would like you to play the part of Kira. You're the only one I can think of who could pull it off."

"Why can't Tsuki-chan-"

"We don't have time to waste arguing." Yatsuki cut in. "I'll make the video and deal with the technical shit. You just write the script and talk into a microphone."

They all stared at her, trying to figure out what caused her abrupt change in mood. She looked away and mumbled an apology, saying that the stress must be getting to her. L nodded in understanding and suggested that everyone except himself and Light go on a break. "Actually, I was hoping to speak to Light alone." Yatsuki said, giving L a pointed look. He nodded and left, throwing a backwards glance at the pair. The two stood in awkward silence for a moment or two before she took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry." She said, catching Light off guard. "I never meant to lie to you. In all honesty, I was only planning on living as your neighbor for two years before moving to another country. I didn't expect to become attached to you and your family. Before I knew it, I had spun a web of lies that I couldn't get out of so that I could stay. I never meant to hurt you." She looked up at him, the expression on her face like that of a lost puppy. "Please don't hate me."

"Is that what's been bothering you?" He sighed and pulled her into a hug. "I could never hate you. You're too important to me."

"Why do I get the feeling that you're not acting?" Ryuk said, knowing that Light wouldn't respond. "You actually care for her, don't you?"

Yatsuki left, going down to the kitchen to get some sodas that were surprisingly absent from the mini fridge in the room. "I do." Light admitted once the door was safely shut. "She's the one who taught me everything I know about being a detective, how to hone my skills and talk my way out of anything."

"Do you love her?" Ryuk asked, his voice mocking. Light stayed silent, but that was all the answer needed.

A few hours later, Light was handing a draft of the script to L, Yatsuki reading over his shoulder. "This is wonderful, Light. You really got in character." She said.

Light looked embarrassed. "I learned from the best." He said. "All the trouble you've gotten us in in the past was a learning experience."

"I wasn't that bad."

L cleared his throat to gain their attention. "I agree with Tsuki-chan. This is excellent. However, if we don't omit the part that says 'you are free to kill L if you wish' then I'll end up dead."

Light laughed slightly. "I guess I got a little too into character, huh? Feel free to change it to whatever you like."

L nodded and an hour later, he handed Yatsuki the finished product. "The rest is up to you."

She grinned and attached her laptop to two other computers that L had set up for her before turning all three on. "Let the games begin."


End file.
